The Return of Weston College
by I-write-hurt-not-comfort
Summary: Ciel catches wind of more trouble at Weston College, only a few weeks after finishing there. However, this time, Ciel and Sebastian bring a few more people with them when they go undercover. Whilst there, they come across some very... interesting people, such as Oz, Gilbert, Break, Elliot and Leo. But, in the end, who is really investigating who? Rated M for yaoi/drinking. Half AU
1. Chapter 1

**_(A/Ns: I have actually been planning this for nearly 4 months now, and I've finally written it! Pandora Hearts and Black Butler are my 2 fav mangas, so I just had to make a fanfic with my favourite arc of the manga. So, this is like half AU for both. Basically, for Pandora Hearts, it takes place after Break's past arc but before the Isla Yura mansion arc, and it takes place where Pandora Hearts is in late 1800s Britain (its probably that time period anyone no one really knows) As for Black Butler, it takes place after the Public School arc and before the Emerald witch arc. Also, Alois exists here. Basically, when Ciel stabbed him, he didn't die, and claude gave up on the deal bc sebby was too awesome. I know it doesn't really make sense, but its a half AU/half canon fanfic, so it doesn't really matter. This is by far the most confusing thing I've ever written, but im actually pretty proud it. Finally, the rating is really for later chapters._**

 ** _Please review! All feedback is welcome :3 Also, I couldn't think of a better title im sorry_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji, Pandora Hearts or any of the characters)_**

 **Chapter 1**

 _~ At the Phantomhive Manor ~_

"Sebastian."

"Yes? What is it?"

"This tea is disgraceful."

"My apologies," Sebastian replied courteously, tilting his head downwards and sighing, "This morning, that fool we call a chef managed to destroy the kitchen yet _again_ , thus I was left with very little time-"

"I don't care," Ciel interjected, raising a hand promptly and cutting him off, "Just get me a new one."

"Yes, my lord," Sebastian grinned, placing a hand to his chest as he picked up the cup, walking away from Ciel and into the kitchen. However, right before he entered the other room, one thing crossed his mind, causing him to retrieve a letter from the inside pocket of his blazer and hold it up between two fingers. "This arrived for you this morning."

"Pass it here," Ciel instructed, taking the letter from Sebastian and watching the butler hurry to the kitchen.

The seal on the letter was none other than that of Queen Victoria.

Opening the letter and scanning over it, Ciel frowned, exhaling mentally.

"Your tea, sir," Sebastian placed another cup down onto the table in front of his master, stepping back subtly and waiting for Ciel to finish reading. "May I ask for the details of the letter?"

Ciel sighed, picking up the tea cup and sipping from it, "More problems have arisen at Weston College. Apparently, soon after it closed down temporarily, a new group took over, allowing both old and new students to enrol. But, as of recently, both students and teachers have been disappearing at an alarming rate. Because of the fact that none of their bodies have been revived by the yard, Her Majesty suspects it has something to do with the underworld. Obviously, that leaves the case up to me."

"What were Her Majesty's exact orders regarding this investigation?"

"Naturally, Her Majesty is concerned for the people who are missing, as well as their families. But, I haven't actually received specific orders instructing me to actually find these missing people. So, I suppose I'm just expected to get to the root of the issue, and to sort it out."

"I see…" Sebastian replied after a short pause, "I must say, this school is proving to be rather troublesome."

"Yes, it is bothersome, I'll admit that," Ciel agreed, standing up from the table and glancing up to Sebastian, "Prepare the carriage now. I'd like to get this resolved as efficiently as possible, and that means starting in the usual place."

Watching as Ciel left the room, Sebastian smirked, raising a hand to his chest again and bowing slightly. "Yes, my lord."

…

The two stood outside the Undertaker's parlour, the sign above which had collapsed numerous times baring the name of the infamous shop. Bringing a hand forward and preparing to open the door, Sebastian was abruptly halted by Ciel, who cupped a hand around his butler's wrist as his vision remained set firmly on the door.

"Don't," Ciel ordered, "I'm going in first."

"My, my, a little eager, aren't we?" Sebastian teased as a grin tugged at his lips.

Ciel sneered at him, "Don't mock me."

Promptly, Ciel barged into the shop without knocking, allowing Sebastian to follow closely behind him before slamming the door shut and speaking up:

"Undertaker! I know you're in here."

After a brief pause, the person whom they were looking for – Undertaker – appeared from above Ciel, dropping onto the floor in front of him.

"Hehehehe~" Undertaker laughed sadistically, standing up slowly and stealthily approaching Ciel, wrapping a hand around his neck and glaring directly into his eyes, "What brings the little lord in here today, I wonder…"

Ciel, who remained seemingly unfazed by the piercing gaze from the phosphorescent eyes, spoke calmly, "I'm here on Her Majesty's business. I need information."

"Ahh, I seeeee~" Undertaker chuckled, detaching himself from Ciel and walking across the room, perching in his normal spot on top of a pile of coffins, "You'll have to pay the price though~"

Right before Ciel could retort with one of his usual snarky comments, Undertaker raised a finger sharply, cutting him off.

"On second thought, I'll do it for free."

Satisfied but slightly suspicious at the deal, Ciel entered further into the shop, keeping a close eye on Sebastian behind him as he seated himself on one of the stray coffins, crossing a leg over and beginning his explanation. "Her Majesty has requested me to investigate Weston College again. Her suspicion is that this has something to do with the underworld; hence I seek information from you. Furthermore, considering you were previously affiliated with the school, I presume you have further knowledge of what happened to them."

Undertaker only nodded in response, his fringe falling away from his eyes as he continued staring at the Earl.

Ciel continued, "Do you know anything worth telling?"

After a minuet silence, Undertaker answered simply, "No."

"… You don't even know what happened to Weston College after you _left_?" Ciel deadpanned.

"No, me lord~" Undertaker repeated, "I was under the impression that they'd closed it down for good. All of the P4 and their fags left, and who knowwssss where they are now~"

Ciel frowned, standing up abruptly and turning on his heel to exit. "Come, Sebastian. It appears as though I have no other choice than to infiltrate the school as a student again."

"Hold it," Undertaker spoke up, still smiling at the Earl as he dropped from the stack of coffins, landing skilfully onto the floor. However, unlike most of his speech, the reaper's tone seemed dripping with a cold, threatening aura, which Ciel found impossible to ignore. "Rather than investigating one house alone, don't you think it would prove more productive to go undercover in _all_ 4 houses?"

Intrigued by Undertaker's proposal, Ciel froze in his tracks, facing the reaper. "Elaborate."

"Certainly," Undertaker smiled, "The school has 4 houses, and in each, separate things happen. I know that from experience. If you want full access, you need multiple people, preferably both students and teachers. _That_ is the _only_ way to gain full access."

"That's easier said than done, but…" Ciel paused for a bit. "… I like the sound of it. Sebastian?"

"Yes, young master?"

"Are you able to make this work?"

Sebastian grinned mischievously. "Certainly."

"Good," Ciel commented, turning back around to face Undertaker, "Would you be willing to assist me in this?"

"My, demanding little one, _aren't we_ ~" Undertaker mocked, "But, I think I will, actually. Just because… I believe this will most _certainly_ prove to be very… _interesting…_ "

…..

Glancing around the room, Ciel face palmed, facing up towards Sebastian and muttering, "Is this _really_ the best you could do?"

Sebastian replied with his usual devilish, confident and modest smile, "As much as they don't seem like it, I believe this group will prove most useful in this task. They'll blend in. Besides, out of all your accomplices, these were the only people who accepted."

"Fine…" Ciel grunted, "But if this all goes terribly wrong, you'll _definitely_ pay the price; understand?"

"Certainly."

"Alright," Ciel began, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room, "If it were my personal decision, none of you would be my first choice when it came to recruiting people to assist me with this. But, certain circumstances have left me with no other choice but to seek out your help, so full cooperation would be greatly appreciated."

Ciel scanned the room, registering everyone there; Undertaker, Grell, Ronald, and worst of all (the very vain of his existence)… Alois.

A while back, Alois and Ciel had engaged in some rather complicated affairs, which ultimately led to Ciel being fairly certain Alois was dead. However, one thing lead to another, and it was soon revealed that the obnoxious blonde was still alive and kicking.

Noticing that they were two people down from having one fag and one dormitory warden for each house, Ciel turned to Sebastian, asking, "Aren't we supposed to have two more."

"Only one person is missing, actually," Sebastian answered, "From what I gathered, the prefects of this school haven't quite chosen fags yet, apart from one, meaning we can only infiltrate on that house with a house warden. That leaves only three spaces for students."

Ciel frowned, "And which house is that?"

"That would be the Green Lion."

"Alright. Looks as if we don't have a choice," Ciel murmered, "But who _is_ missing?"

"Well… _that_ would have to be-"

Right before Sebastian could finish the sentence; a loud _crash_ reverberated around the room, everyone apart from Sebastian flinching at the noise.

And, at that moment – from a cloud of dust and shattered glass – appeared the final member of the plan.

Observing as the person stood arrogantly, whipping the sword over his shoulder, Ciel groaned, "Seriously? _Him?_ "

Sebastian breathed out a sigh, "Admittedly, he _was_ the last resort, I'm afraid. But, out of the pair of them, I figured he'd be the most capable at blending into a school. And, he did attend Weston College himself, so out of everyone here, I'm hoping he'll prove to be productive."

"You talking about me, folks?"

Ciel turned to see _that_ person – none other than Charles Grey – strutting over to him, running a finger through his hair as he stared down and smiled at the Earl.

Putting on his façade of innocence, Ciel replied, "No, thank you. Just please take a seat. We have a lot to discuss before tomorrow."

"Whatever."

"May I begin now?"

"No," Alois declared objectionably, "I have a question."

Internally, Ciel rolled his eyes. "What is it, Alois?"

"What am I getting for doing this?" Alois smirked, "Will I finally get to own you?"

"No," Ciel grimaced, "Naturally, working besides me, the Queen's guard dog, should give you a reasonable reputation."

"Aw," Alois smirked, "Oh well, at least I get some time away for boring old Claude for a week. Maybe then I'll get a chance with that handsome butler of yours~"

Ciel screwed his face up in disgust. "Is that all?"

"No. I'll pester you with the rest later."

"Good," Ciel continued, "The way in which this college works is by a house system. Throughout the school, there are 4 dormitory houses, each with its own teacher, or warden, as some may put it. Additionally, each house has its own prefect. These prefects have been set, so the 3 of us who are working undercover as students will have to become their fags in order to get as close as possible to them. Naturally, most of us will be in separate houses, so fag work will have to be completed to the best of our ability."

"Slightly ironic coming from you, my lord," Sebastian joked, bringing a hand up to his chin.

"Shut up."

"What are 'fags'?" Alois asked curiously, "Sounds like hard work."

"It is," Charles replied, "You basically act like a slave for the P4."

"Ugh. I cannot be bothered with that."

"We'll discuss this later…" Ciel exhaled heavily, "Anyway, we have secured the enrolments in the houses required, and all the adults must start work tomorrow. Currently, the main decision we are faced with is who will be investigating each house."

"The Earl and I can most likely be based in any house," Sebastian added, "So really the decision lies upon you."

"What're the four houses?" Ronald questioned, awkwardly scratching the back of his head as he turned away and focused on the floor, "I'm not too smart, so nothin' too advanced, if y' would."

"The first house is Violet Wolf," Ciel simplified, "This is for people who are exceptional at the arts, ranging from music to painting. The next house is Scarlet Fox, which is for people of exceptionally high status. Supposedly, it teaches its students about poetry and culture, but in actuality, I believe all it does is educates its students how to be arrogant. Anyway, the third house is Green Lion, where people who are outstanding at sports go. The final house is the Sapphire Owl, where the prestigious school's brightest and academically gifted students gather. Last time I investigated at Weston College, I was part of the Sapphire Owl, so I believe it would seem less suspicious if I were to join a different house."

"I want to be in Scarlet Fox," Alois demanded.

"Is there a particular reason for this?" Sebastian interrogated.

"Of course!" Alois blurted out as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "The Trancy household is well known all over England. And just _look_ at me!"

"I'd never heard of the 'Trancy' household prior to meeting you…" Ciel muttered under his breath, almost inaudibly, "But very well. You may join the Scarlet Fox house."

"I've just ran through the possibilities mentally, and I personally believe the best person to work as a tutor for Scarlet Fox would be Grell," Sebastian pointed out.

At the mention of his name, Grell perked up, his long red hair flicking upwards as he stood up, leaping towards Sebastian. "Ohhh~ BASSYYY~ You think _I'm_ so beautiful that I could fit in with all the rich snobs? Oh, how I'm _honoured!_ "

"No," Sebastian retorted, holding a hand out and stopping Grell in his tracks, watching as the redhead fell to the floor, "I just believe that if you made an effort, as the so-called _'actress'_ you are, you would be able to work effectively as a tutor there."

"Ohh, I see~" Grell purred, "Well, I _do_ like the sound of dressing up in those pretty dresses all the aristocrats wear-"

"You'll be working as a male," Ciel stated bluntly, cutting Grell off, "It's an all boys' school, so consequently, all staff are of the male gender as well."

Grell's expression quickly shifted to one of disgust and horror. "What?! I did not consent to this!"

"Grell, darlin'" Ronald said calmly, "Chill out, we get a break from Will this way."

"Oh, I suppose you're right," Grell sighed, sitting down with exasperated effort, "But I'm still not too happy about this."

"Oh well," Ciel shrugged it off, checking that Sebastian was writing everything down before confirming, "Okay, so in the Scarlet Fox house, we have Alois as the fag and Grell as the teacher, correct?"

When everyone nodded in acknowledgement, Ciel proceeded.

"Ronald?"

"Yeh?"

"You said you wanted something less academically… _challenging,_ correct?"

"Um… yeh," Ronald nodded, "I ain't 'alf bad at sports, so y' could put me in the sporty one."

"I suppose that would be most suited to him," Sebastian agreed, "Young master?"

"Go on," Ciel ordered him, "Okay, so, Charles Grey…"

"Ah, good. I thought you'd forgotten about me!" Charles commented.

Ciel dismissed his nonsense, proceeding to ask, "Where would you be best suited to?"

"Well, I'm useless when it comes to art," Charles laughed casually, not appearing to be taking the plan overly seriously, "I'm the Queen's butler, so I'm not stupid. I'll just be a student in the Sapphire Owl house."

"How are _you_ working as a student?" Alois scoffed, eyeing him up and down.

"It's what the Queen and her Guard Dog ordered of me," he shrugged, "Besides, I'm sure my looks will allow me to get away with being a bratty teen-"

"Wait," Ciel interjected, "Her Majesty is aware of what's going on in this investigation?"

"Of course."

"Right… Sebastian?" Ciel rotated his head to face his butler, "I order you to work in the Sapphire Owl house with Charles Grey here. Honestly, I don't trust him as much as I should, so I trust that you'll watch over him. Furthermore, if he's serving as Her Majesty's eyes, then I need you to ensure this investigation goes to plan."

"Yes, my lord."

"Okay then…" Ciel flicked through the papers, freezing up at his sudden realisation, "So… all that is left is the Violet Wolf with me… and Undertaker?"

Undertaker smirked deviously, "I was right… this _will_ play out to be verrryyyyy amusing, wouldn't you say as well, me lord?"

"Wait," Ronald intervened, "Ain't he the guy from the… um… c-camponi… no, campanyi, nope… c-"

"Campania," Ciel cut in abruptly, "Yes. I shall be keeping a close watch on him. But, his previous ties to Weston College may prove useful."

"No offense, but," Alois grinned, "Do you even have a single artistic vein in you, Ciel?"

"Painting; no," Ciel countered, "But I'm competent in playing the violin, and the previous fag, Cheslock, had the same talent. As for Undertaker… it doesn't really matter."

"That's certainly true, me lord~" Undertaker agreed, "I've seen those classes before, you seeee~ They don't do much. All it ever consists of is a goth parade, all of them playing creepy music and throwing black paint onto canvases, colouring them the colours of their souls. Honestly, it's _most_ amusing~"

"… Alright then…" Ciel muttered, not looking forward to putting their plan into action tomorrow. But, he didn't have a choice.

Sorting out a mystery like this… such was his duty as the Queen's Guard Dog.

…..

 _~ At Weston College ~_

"Okay. Shall we begin tonight's meeting?"

Reim scanned the room, satisfied that everyone had arrived so that he could begin. In front of him sat Break, Oz, Gilbert, Elliot and Leo, all in their plain white clothing – all except coloured vests. Elliot and Gilbert just looked bored, Oz and Leo were intrigued, whilst Break looked as if he weren't even paying attention to what Reim was talking about.

He continued, "In the Headmaster's experiments lately, 7 more people have passed away. Unfortunately, 4 of them proved to be adults; the 4 dormitory wardens, to be specific."

"Oh well," Break shrugged, gazing idly at the ceiling, "My house leader was soooo annoying. He kept making me do work."

Reim glared at him. "Xerx, we're supposed to be acting like normal students; the teachers can't know that we're just on surveillance for the Headmaster."

"So, have we got new teachers yet?" Oz asked curiously, "I was beginning to like my house leader!"

"Yes, we have, actually," Reim informed them, a sense of uncertainty riddled throughout his tone, "The four of them have all come from the same place, so the Headmaster has instructed all of you to keep a sharp watch on them, especially their interactions – if any – with the new students."

"New students?" Oz's face lit up, "How many?"

"There'll be three of them," Reim explained, "Sapphire Owl, Scarlet Fox and Violet Wolf will all be receiving one new student."

"Not ours?" Leo wondered, "Why?"

"Because you're my valet, so you remain my fag!" Elliot yelled, "I'm not letting you serve anyone else!"

Sarcastically, Leo threw his arms up into a fake surrender, "Jesus… calm down and stop being so possessive."

"Tch," Elliot scoffed, "Whatever. You're crap at sport anyway… I have no idea what you're doing in the Green Lion dorm anyway…"

"Well…" Leo smiled up at his master, "I don't want to serve anyone else."

Elliot felt his face heat up as he gulped, hoping for someone to change to topic.

Thankfully, after a brief break in the conversation, Reim spoke up again, "Am I correct in thinking the rest of you don't have fags yet?"

Break, Gilbert and Oz all nodded their heads simultaneously.

Reim continued, "Okay. The Headmaster has ordered you to make these new student's your fags as well, because he's deemed it as 'suspicious' that they all joined with the new house leaders."

"I don't want a fag," Break complained, "I'm perfectly capable of doing things on my own."

"Xerx, your job is most important," Reim declared, grabbing his friend's attention.

"Why?"

"I did some digging around once I received the completed enrolment forms earlier this evening. It turns out the person who will be joining Violet Wolf with you has been here before, so you need to watch over him."

"Argh…" Break whined, "But that means re-teaching him all the new rules! And this stupid uniform!"

"The uniform which you don't even follow," Reim muttered under his breath, glaring at Break through the corners of his glasses. As well as the new Weston College uniform (which was identical to the Lutwidge uniform, except for coloured vests which indicated which house they belonged to), Break had a dark purple cloak draped over his shoulders, effectively serving as a blanket which occasionally gave him a hood. "And you'll need to explain that we address people by first name now, but _without_ letting him know that some of us have the same surnames. Because, we don't want the Headmaster's experiment's exposed either."

"So much work~~!"

"Do… we know what the Headmaster is doing?" Oz questioned quietly, lowering his head, "Or why people keep dying?"

Reim responded regretfully after a brief silence, "I'm afraid not…"

"What household is this fag I'll get stuck with from?" Gilbert muttered nonchalantly, already bored of his involvement in this. Because of the way the school worked, Oz had had to become the prefect of the Sapphire Owl house, which left Gilbert to be prefect of Scarlet Fox as a member of the Nightray's.

"Um…" Reim flicked through the files, "Trancy… supposedly, his father died a long time ago."

"Never heard of it," Gilbert grunted, "Are we done here?"

"Yes, for tonight. You're free to return to your dorms now."

The sound of chairs scratching across the floor overlapped the silence in the room, everyone heading towards the door.

Just before they could leave, Reim grabbed their attention again, saying firmly:

"Remember what you must do tomorrow. From how suspicious the Headmaster seemed earlier… I think we can safely assume that keeping to the plan must be your top priority…"


	2. Chapter 2

**_(A/Ns: I'm back! Okay, so this is a bit of a filler chapter, sort of just showing the characters from Black Butler and Pandora Hearts actually interacting. If you look closely, there's a LOT of a foreshadowing in this; ive thrown a lot in here so try to pick out some of it. Yes, Break is blind, because this takes place after ch42(?) So yeh, lots of hints to future chapters. Finally, and I should've said this in the first chapter, if you haven't finished reading Pandora Hearts and aren't past the Emerald Witch arc of black butler, I wouldn't read this because there's a lot of spoilers, especially later chapters (as in references to previous events)._**

 ** _Please review! I've got one follower (you know who you are!) so thank you to them. I get that this crossover isn't going to get much attention, so my other fanfic takes my priority, hence updates might be slow._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji, Pandora Hearts or any of the characters)_**

 **Chapter 2**

"The new teachers have arrived," Reim informed the current P4, the sun barely dawning over Weston College as the clock ticked past 5am. Out of the five people who sat in front of him – Oz, Gilbert, Elliot, Leo and Break – only one of them appeared to be even half awake, that person being the eager blonde perched on the edge of his seat and awaiting the orders for today.

Admittedly, he was also the only one who appeared to be actually enjoying the experience.

Across from him, Elliot and Leo were asleep on each other's shoulders, most likely unaware of their close proximity. And, of course, they were both oblivious as to how Reim and Oz perceived it, Leo's head lulling gently onto Elliot's shoulder blade as their hair tangled together.

Besides them, both Break and Gilbert were asleep in their chairs. Gilbert had an elbow placed onto the arm of the chair, his head balancing in the palm of his hand. Next to him, the hood of Break's cloak was draped fully over his face, allowing him to sleep in a somewhat peaceful manner.

When they were back at Pandora, Break and Gilbert hardly ever slept much. In fact, out of everyone, they probably slept the least, each of them experiencing insomnia on a nightly basis which caused them to spend their nights wandering the hallways. However, when working undercover in a school, that simply wasn't an option, which left both of them to simply lie in bed and contemplate.

But, because of the busy days they were currently undergoing, not sleeping at all _also_ wasn't a practical option, their nightly endeavours often resulting in the two crashing from tiredness in the morning.

Unfortunately, that often occurred right in the middle of Reim's extremely important meetings.

Sighing internally at Break and thinking he'd have to talk to him about this again at some point, Reim continued, "When the new students come and you go through the fag selection process, they'll become your roommates. The new teachers don't necessarily need to be introduced to you, but as the Headmaster has requested, staying close to them may prove beneficial at some point in the future."

"When do the students arrive?" Oz asked, his curiosity piquing.

"We aren't sure yet," Reim told him, "Most likely at some point after the morning tutor session and before lunch. I'd appreciate it if you made them your fags today, just so that they can move into your rooms tonight."

"Ok!" Oz agreed cheerfully, laughing at his valet slumped in the seat next to him and snoring slightly, "I'll make sure to tell Gil."

"Thank you," Reim smiled at Oz. Quickly after, however, his smile faded, watching in the corner of his eye as Break shifted uncomfortably in his sleep. Knowing what was happening almost instantly, Reim took immediate action. "That will be all. I would like to speak to Xerx regarding the person joining his house, so if you could leave now it would be greatly appreciated."

Tilting his head confusedly at Reim, Oz stood up, grabbing Gil by the wrist and yanking his arm from underneath his face. Straight away, Gilbert woke up abruptly to Oz whisking him out of the room, grumbling to himself something about needing a cigarette.

A few seconds after, Elliot stirred, lifting himself up from Leo's shoulder and waking the other in the process.

"Nhn, Elliot…" Leo muttered, his glasses hanging crookedly from his face, "Too early after-"

Elliot's eyes widened, and he hastily cupped a hand over Leo's mouth, halting his speech immediately and mentally yelling at himself for not waking Leo up before taking him here.

"Come on, we're going," Elliot grunted, avoiding eye contact with Reim as he dragged Leo out of the room with him.

Perplexed, Reim brushed it off, waiting for his friend to awaken.

"Xerx," he said calmly, approaching the other steadily, "Wake up, please. We need to talk."

"Nhn… stop…" Break murmered in his sleep, his tone explicitly distressed. Nevertheless, he didn't wake up.

Softly, Reim placed a hand onto his shoulder, Break jolting awake harshly at the sudden touch.

"W-wha…" Break panted restlessly, his widened eye still covered by the hood.

Reim slowly lifted the fabric away from his friend's face, waving a hand in front of him.

"Xerx, it's me."

A few seconds of panic later, Break finally snapped out of it, glancing up at Reim's blurred figure, standing in front of him with an aura which practically radiated concern; even if Break couldn't actually see it fully with his own eyes.

"O-oh… sorry…" Break stuttered sheepishly, "It was… just-"

"A nightmare," Reim finished the sentence for him, "I know. Are you sure you're alright with doing this? I don't want you to push yourself and-"

"I'm _fine_ ," Break cut him off, dismissively waving a hand as if the previous ordeal was nothing, "I've done much more challenging things in my life, you know~"

Reim faced the floor sadly. "I know… but, are you sure your vision is still… _decent_ enough to do something like this? Or your nightmares?"

"I just won't sleep," Break shrugged it off, "And as for my eyesight, it's not too bad. I can still make out objects easily enough. I don't have to write much either."

"I doubt you'll be able to go the entire time without sleeping, but if you insist, I can't stop you," Reim frowned, picking up his things and proceeding to the door, "Just remember, if you ever need anything, I'm here."

Wrapping the cloak around his shoulders as if it were a blanket, Break smiled faintly up at Reim. "Good to know… I'll do this job right, just this once…"

…

"I can't believe I'm stuck in a carriage alone with these two…" Ciel muttered to himself, glancing up at the clock in the corner of the enclosed space. It currently read 09:34, and they were only about another 5 minutes away from Weston College.

In front of him, Charles Grey was currently sleeping, his head leaning on the back of the seat after he'd finally stopped complaining about it being so early. To his left, Alois sat alarmingly close to him, their shoulders touching. The blonde had his leg kicked over the other, and had been rambling endlessly for the entire journey.

"We're almost there," Ciel announced abruptly, cutting Alois off and receiving a weak glare from him, "I want you to remember that we're undercover. The three of us know each other from previous aristocracies, but none of us know the house leaders."

"When are they arriving?" Alois asked, still pouting.

"They've already arrived. Each evening, you'll need to meet up with them in their office in secret, preferably without the prefect knowing."

By this point, Charles had woken up, stretching and yawning as he questioned, "Are we going to be sharing a room with anyone else?"

"Yes, almost certainly," Ciel replied, "Are the two of you ready for this?"

Charles nodded lazily, rolling his eyes at the young Earl's demeanour. Alois, on the other hand, leant further onto Ciel's shoulder.

"I feel like you underestimate me, Ciel."

Ciel sighed at Alois. "Given our past, I don't quite grasp why you expect me to trust you."

Sulking, Alois crossed his arms over, pulling away from Ciel and earning a smirk from the other.

A few minutes later, Ciel looked out of the window again, spotting the prestigious school towering over them in the distance.

Calmly, he said, "We've arrived."

…..

"The new students have arrived!" Oz yelled excitedly. At the current time, all students were on break, and were allowed to freely wander the grounds. Obviously, Break, Gilbert, Elliot and Leo all stayed together with Oz, acting as the P4 and carrying out their designated roles. "Everyone get ready to greet them!"

"Oz sure is getting into this, would've you say~" Break whispered to Gilbert.

Gilbert frowned, taking what Break had said about his master as an insult, "He never got to go to Lutwidge, and considering he's the child of a Nobel, that's where he would've gone. I suppose… this is his substitution."

Sarcastically, Break raised an eyebrow at Gil. "So why didn't you go to Lutwidge? You weren't smart enough?"

"… shut up."

The four prefects lined up in front of the lawn, Leo standing behind Elliot noticeably; indicating that he was _his_ fag.

A few minutes later, three students dressed in the uniform entered through the gates, footman of the college carrying their bags and escorting them through.

The first student was quite short, with navy blue – almost black – hair and a purple vest. He had a white cloth eyepatch covering his right eye and a face which could barely be read, no one quite sure what he was thinking as he planted on a fake, innocent smile.

To his right, a slightly taller boy with blonde hair and vibrant blue eyes stood prominently, arms crossed over as he strutted forward. The red vest clearly showed that he was set to join Scarlet Fox, but the aura which screamed 'spoiled rich brat' was enough to gather that much from.

Finally, on the end stood the tallest student, long white hair draped down his back and cutting off with multiple layers at the front. His vest was the royal blue colour of Sapphire Owl, but he didn't actually look overly smart.

"I'm Ciel," the front person introduced courteously, shaking the hand of Break, "Ciel Phantomhive. I presume you're the prefect of Violet Wolf?"

"None other than," Break smiled down at Ciel, shaking his hand loosely in return, "It's nice to meet you, Ciel. You can call me Break."

Ciel briefly wondered why they didn't address each other by surname, but quickly brushed off that concern as the obnoxious blonde beside him decided that it was his turn to be introduced.

"My name is Alois Trancy!" Alois announced boldly, wandering over to Gilbert and standing in front of him, "I presume you know my family?"

"Um… no," Gil deadpanned, "I'm Gilbert Nightray."

"Well I don't know who the hell you are either," Alois retorted, pushing out his hips to the side as he crossed his arms over arrogantly.

Meanwhile, Charles had approached Oz, shaking his hand firmly and introducing himself. "I'm Charles Grey."

"Hi!" Oz cheered, "My name is Oz Vessalius. How would you like me to address you; Charles or Grey?"

"I don't really mind," he shrugged, "Charles works."

"Alight," Oz beamed, gesturing to Elliot and Leo, "That's Elliot and Leo. Elliot is the prefect of Green Lion, and Leo is his fag. You'll become fags soon, probably."

Taking action and doing as Reim had instructed earlier, Break spoke up. "When lunch begins, come to the five of us in the gazebo. We'll discuss your new rooms and all other formalities."

"Thank you," Ciel replied, bowing his head politely, "We'll see you then."

….

After a morning of getting lectured by the assistant head – some guy called Mr Lunettes – Ciel and the others could proceed to the gazebo. Fortunately, after last time, he still remembered where it was, and could make it there just after the bell signalling lunch had sounded.

As they approached the gazebo further, the three students quickly noticed all 4 prefects and the fag.

"Good afternoon," Break greeted, spotting Ciel, Charles and Alois in the distance.

Currently, Break was perched in a single arm chair, cross legged as he devoured several slices of cake. To the side of him, Elliot was stretched out on a sofa, a book covering his eyes with his hands placed behind his head. Next to him, Leo was standing up, arms behind his back. Oz was sitting on the opposite sofa next to Gilbert, copying information from a textbook into his own notes. Gilbert, on the other hand, wasn't doing much in particular; his arm leant on the side of the chair.

Formally, Ciel lined up along with Alois and Charles, awaiting further instructions.

Break licked the remaining icing from the fork before continuing, getting straight to the point, "How would the 3 of you like to become our fags?"

"Of course," Ciel accepted immediately. However, inside, he knew this was suspicious, since it usually took a very long time for a prefect to select their fag. And, on top of that, it was almost never a new student.

"May I ask why you chose us for the honour?" Charles asked, obviously thinking similar things to Ciel.

"Simple," Break answered, "We don't have fags yet. The students who passed away recently weren't a fag to anyone else, so they're irrelevant-"

"Hang on," Oz cut him off, frowning, "That's a bit insensitive."

"Not really. I didn't even know who they were~" Break dismissed, "Anyway, everyone else already has a fag, so to avoid any unnesccary fuss…" Break paused to take another bite of cake. "… You'll be our fags."

"Thank you," Ciel replied, faking a smile but still not buying their lie for a split second, "I presume that means we'll be sharing a room with you?"

"Correct~" Break chimed, chuckling to himself.

"You're also forgetting the part about the blood not being cleaned off of the old student's rooms," Elliot added nonchalantly.

Above him, Leo frowned, "Elliot. You can't say that kind of thing."

"I'm not lying…" Elliot muttered, still not moving a muscle.

"Wow, you're actually awake?" Oz tilted his head, "And Leo's right. You shouldn't say things like that."

"Whatever."

After a short silence, Break pointed sharply at Ciel, smirking at him. "You."

"Hm?" Ciel glanced up at Break, abruptly being pulled from his thoughts, "Oh, right… sorry. Yes?"

"Your first order. Go get me more cake," Break demanded.

Ciel sighed inwardly, putting on his fake smile. "Certainly, sir-"

Break cut him off, shaking a head and raising a hand. "I don't like sir. It's too… formal. Just try Break."

"A-alright…" Ciel responded hesitantly.

 _Who even is this…?_ he asked himself mentally, wandering away from the gazebo and heading to the kitchens.

Once he was certain he was out of everyone else's view, he raised a hand up to his eye, removing the fabric concealing the demon seal and muttering quietly, "Come, Sebastian."

Within a split second, the demon butler appeared by his side, bowing courteously to his master with the same devilish grin as always.

"This is an order," Ciel stated firmly, "Go and make the finest cake you can for that freak. Just take your time; I don't want it to appear as if I did anything deviant."

"Yes, my lord."

…..

Meanwhile, back at the gazebo, Charles had been ordered by Oz to assist him with his homework. Unfortunately, in contrary to his previous declaration, Charles wasn't _actually_ overly smart, not quite understanding the work himself.

Staring blankly at the textbook, he muttered slowly, "I have no idea…"

"Aw!" Oz whined, dumping his face onto the table and exhaling, "I don't know what to do…! Do you guys know the new house leader by any chance? Is he helpful?"

Glancing suspiciously at Alois (who, frankly, had absolutely no idea what was going) Charles shook his head. "No idea. Never seen the guy before."

"Dang it…" Oz complained, tilting his head to face Gilbert, "Gil? What about you?"

"Uh… nope," Gil replied almost immediately, patting his blazer pocket before standing up, sticking his hands into them and walking away, "I'm off for… well, _that_ … I'll be back in a bit."

Chuckling lightly to himself, Break kicked his legs up onto the arm of the chair, calling after Gil, "Such a weak willed guy, aha!"

"Shut up!"

Shortly after, Alois asked, "Was I supposed to go after him or something?"

"Technically yes," Oz answered, "But Gil… usually prefers to be alone sometimes, so I wouldn't follow him around everywhere he goes."

"Don't worry, I'm not clingy," Alois declared.

Across the gazebo, Charles snorted derisively, "Yeh, right."

Alois glared at him, "What? Are you trying to make a point or something?"

"No," Charles replied as innocently as he could, "Totally not."

Elliot changed the topic of conversation abruptly, still not moving from his position as he said quietly, "What's the point in trying to stay quiet about it? Surely the blonde kid is gonna find out eventually that-"

"Nope," Leo interjected, dropping his book onto his face and cutting him off.

"Hey! Leo!" Elliot flinched, finally sitting up and glaring sharply at the noirette, "What the hell was that for?"

"Gilbert requested we stay quiet for now," Leo reminded him, "I don't think he'd appreciate you running your mouth."

"Hmph. You didn't have to hit me that hard…" Elliot pointed out, "That hurt."

Smirking to himself, Leo leant down towards Elliot, whispering, "Why? Would you prefer I saved that for later?"

"W-what?" Elliot exclaimed, willing the blush on his face to fade, "Stop it!"

"That's what you said last night."

"Leo! That's inappropriate!" Elliot wailed, flailing his arms around in an attempt to silence the other.

"Heh."

Turning back around, Elliot noticed everyone else staring at them in confusion.

"Uh…" Oz stuttered, "What was that for?"

"Just… don't ask…" Elliot grunted, fully aware how he was still blushing. He crossed his arms over irritably, explaining, "That's Leo's way of annoying me. And don't make an innuendo out of that one too!"

"I wasn't going to…" Leo muttered.

"Okay then…" Oz responded unsurely, hearing the sound of the school bell and hastily packing his belongings away, "I'm off to class. See you back at the house!"

…..

The clock had just struck 10:30pm, most of the students preparing themselves for bed or working eagerly on homework due the next day.

In the Scarlet Fox dormitory, Alois was lying stretched across his bed, reading through the rather large list of poems given to him today in the afternoon literature class.

"'The Prelude', boring… 'The Excursion', painfully long… 'Ode to Autumn', oh that's the _really_ shit o-"

Alois' meaningless rambling was cut off by the prefect of that house – Gilbert – returning to the room and standing in the doorway.

He opened his mouth to say something, cursing himself mentally as he clicked a finger, pointing at Alois and asking, "What was your name again?"

Groaning inwardly, the blonde replied plainly, "Alois."

"Right. Alois," Gilbert started, "I think we should go to meet the new House Warden now. He'll go to sleep soon, so…"

Considering it for a moment, Alois sat up, following Gil out of the room. Just as they wandered down the corridor, he smirked, turning around to Gilbert. "Your shirt is untucked."

"Hmph," Gil frowned, reluctantly tucking the shirt into his trousers. He could already tell that he was going to hate this guy.

"You're going in first?"

"Sure," Gilbert murmered, raising a hand and knocking on the door.

"Come in~"

Shrugging off the strange tone of the man inside, Gilbert entered, quickly spotting the current house leader. He had long red hair, tied up and loosely braided to the side. A pair of red, thin rimmed glasses sat just below his eyes, and for some strange reason, Gil seemed fairly certain he was wearing false eyelashes as well, but decided not to question it.

"Oh, so you're the prefect here, aren't you~?" he purred, standing up to reveal the red and black velvet suit. It was an impressive piece of clothing, and Gil could only assume that he was part of an extremely high aristocracy. "Oh! And I see _you're_ the lucky little kid who gets to serve this handsome young man~"

Gil felt his stomach drop, confused at who the hell this guy even was. Meanwhile, Alois continued the innocent act, but mentally face palmed at Grell.

"Call me Mr Sutcliff," Grell introduced, stalking over to Gilbert and dragging a finger down the fabric of his blazer, "Who might you be, hmm?"

"U-uh… Gilbert… Gilbert Nightray…" Gil stuttered, slightly freaked out by the sudden contact. _Never heard of Sutcliff_ … he thought to himself, _he's almost as perverted as Break…_

"Ooh, fancy," Grell purred, turning to Alois, "And who's this little brat?"

"Oh, I'm Alois Trancy," he said calmly, internally screaming at Grell. Saving both himself and Gilbert from the situation, Alois fake yawned, stretching exhaustedly. "I'm tired; it's getting late. Wouldn't you agree?"

Feeling as though Alois was trying to suggest something, Gilbert agreed absentmindedly, nodding as politely as he could to 'Mr Sutcliff' before hurrying out of the room.

"Who the hell even was that?" he muttered, returning back to the dorm with Alois tailing him closely.

Alois shrugged, "I have no idea."

…..

In the Sapphire Owl house, Oz and Charles had had the same idea as Gilbert, opting to go and introduce themselves to the new house leader.

Wandering down the corridor to the office labelled 'House Warden', Oz knocked politely on the door, staying silent in order to make a good impression on himself.

There was a soft thudding of footsteps for a few seconds, before the lock clicked, someone with straight black hair and crimson red eyes smiling down at the blonde. "Welcome. You must be the prefect of Sapphire Owl, I presume."

"Wha?" Oz raised an eyebrow, walking into the office hesitantly with Charles following behind him, "How did you know?"

"Why, that rosette, of course," he replied respectfully, gesturing to the royal blue rose donned to his vest, "Only the prefects of each house are in possession of such quality materials."

"Um… okay…" Oz muttered, looking around the room and noticing the slightly dull décor. He wasn't quite sure what he thought of the new teacher quite yet, not wanting to fall for the trap of the so-called 'innocent' smile. "My name is Oz Vessalius. It's uh, a pleasure to meet you."

"And you," he smiled, taking Oz's hand into a firm hand shake, "You may address me as 'Mr Michaelis'."

"I'm Charles Grey," Charles introduced, shaking the hand of Sebastian and making quick, reassuring eye contact; enough to suggest that everything had gone to plan so far. "Call me whatever."

"Thank you," Sebastian responded, pulling away and reseating himself at his desk, "It's getting rather late now. I believe it would be a good idea to retire now, wouldn't you say?"

"O-oh, yes!" Oz perked up, bowing nervously before turning on his heel, proceeding to the exit, "It was nice meeting you, Mr Michaelis."

"Certainly," Sebastian smiled, "And remember, if you ever need any assistance, just come here. I'll be waiting."

….

"Where the hell is he…?" Ciel muttered to himself, staring at the wall idly from his desk.

Break had disappeared from the Violet Wolf dormitory nearly an hour ago, saying he'd be back in 15 minutes, and that he just had something to discuss with the assistant Headmaster.

Standing up abruptly, Ciel concluded that the best action to take would be to seek out advice from Undertaker; as much as he hated to admit it, the grim reaper had proved himself an extremely useful pawn on several occasions.

Quietly as not to disturb the other members of the house (and considering it was the Violet Wolf house, it would most likely prove traumatic to wake all of them up), Ciel tiptoed down the hallway, quickly arriving at Undertaker's office and knocking on the door.

There was no response at first. But, a few seconds later, the door was opened for him.

Ciel glanced up at the person in confusion, "Break? What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Ciel~" Break smirked, "I was just introducing myself on the way back from the assistant Headmaster. Is there a particular reason _you're_ here?"

"Um, yes… I was having some concerns with the homework set by our previous teacher," Ciel lied.

"Homework?" Break raised an eyebrow questionably, "We had homework?"

"… Yes. I got informed of it today."

"Oh… right," Break paused for a second, dismissing it only a second later, "Oh well. I didn't do it. I better be off now. It's getting late."

"Keep safe, young lad," Undertaker waved goodbye, baring his usual, creepy smile, "I'll see you tomorrow~"

"You too, Mr Crevan~" Break waved in return, concealing the side of his white blazer with the cloak and hurrying out, making sharp eye contact with Undertaker and finally exiting the room.

Staring in wonder at the strange connection he'd just witnessed, Ciel blinked several times, before turning back around and securing the door shut.

"Okay. I'll give you an oral report of the first day. I need you to report back to Sebastian for me," Ciel ordered.

Undertaker chuckled, "Hehe, yes, _me lord~_ "

…

Back in the room, Break had just returned, lying down and his bed and hoping for a peaceful sleep just this once. Part of him knew he'd most likely just pass out, but the other part told him he'd be able to stay awake.

As much as part of the problem was sleeping without experiencing one of his usual night terrors, the main problem for Break tended to be actually _getting_ to sleep, unlike Gilbert, who more than likely just overthought things instead of sleeping.

No – Break's insomnia was something else; the fear of sleeping, in case he'd be forced to relive everything.

Hopping up from the bed, Break wandered idly to the window, opening the curtains just a crack and glancing up at the night sky, still clutching what Reim had reluctantly given him as he waited for Ciel to return.

Fortunately, about 20 minutes later, Ciel returned, watching Break just stare outside into the night sky as he climbed into bed, asking quietly, "Are you not going to retire?"

"Hm?" Break jumped slightly, having not seen Ciel enter. "I will… eventually."

Dismissing it as Break's confusing demeanour, Ciel brushed it off, settling under the covers and passing out the second his head hit the pillow.

Break waited for another half an hour or so, ensuring Ciel was asleep before pulling out a bottle of wine from underneath his cloak, placing a glass onto the window sill and pouring some of the liquid into it.

Picking up the glass and raising it to his lips, eyes still focused on the blurred stars outside, Break whispered sincerely to himself, "Thank you, Reim… hopefully this will let me sleep, just this once..."


	3. Chapter 3

_**(A/Ns: My laptop is finally working again! Yay! So, it's been a while since I updated this, but as I said previously, there's not many people following so it's not my biggest priority. This story is finally developing a plot! Yeh, each of the characters start investigating each other, and you'll see the house leaders next chapter. I also plan to have some like funny kind of scenes next chapter, considering it think the students definitely make good friends. I know I skipped out a whole day, but it was sort of irrelevant. And, yes, I can totally imagine Alois just going through someone's diary. One thing to bare in mind: Leo knew about himself being connected to the Abyss, but because Isla Yura's mansion hasn't happened yet, the others don't know, hence he gets awkward.**_

 _ **Please review! I've got one reviewer (you know who you are!) but i'm more likely to update quickly if I know people are interested.**_

 _ **Content warnings: Break's depressingness, alcohol, some yaoi (ElliotxLeo) sorry, I just had to.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji, Pandora Hearts or any of the characters)**_

 **Chapter 3**

"Nhn… Elliot… what time is it?"

"… huhn? Leo?" Elliot sat up groggily, looking down at Leo beside him, "Get your hands off me…"

"Huh?" Leo groaned, opening one eye briefly and noticing how his arms had entangled around Elliot's waist during the night, "Oh… sorry."

"It's fine…" Elliot grunted, "What time is it?"

Leo sat up, rubbing his eyes tiredly and looking sideways to the clock. "About… 5:10am…"

"Shit!" Elliot cursed, launching himself from the bed, "We were supposed to be at that stupid meeting 10 minutes ago?"

"Nhh? Oh… right, yeh. That one…"

"Argh, Leo!" Elliot yelled, hastily stripping himself from his night shirt, "You're my _fag,_ remember! It's your job to wake me up!"

Leo grinned, standing up and stalking over to Elliot. "I don't like that term… no, I prefer being your valet."

Elliot froze as Leo dragged a hand down the side of his shirt, undoing the buttons in silence. Smirking, Elliot teased, "Ohh, it's also a valet's job to undress his master, am I correct?"

"Mhm," Leo nodded, running his fingers through the blonde's hair.

"You know," Elliot whispered, closing the gap between the two of them and forcing the gap in between them shut, "Mornings are my favourite time of the day, because you're not wearing your glasses…"

"Hm…" Leo shifted uneasily, turning away. Elliot frowned as he placed a finger underneath Leo's chin, bringing his face back up to gaze into his eyes.

Just as they began to close their eyes and bring their lips together, there was a low knock on the door, before it opened quickly immediately after.

Elliot and Leo both froze at the person standing in the door, hesitating for a few moments before snapping back into reality and pushing each other away.

"Who're you?"

"Er…" the person at the door – probably no older than 23 or so – muttered, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, "I'm your new house leader, er, Ronald Knox… I think y' supposed t' call me Mr Knox or somethin'…"

"And?"

"Elliot…" Leo sighed, attempting to break the tense atmosphere, "That's no way to speak to your superiors."

"Gah, shut up Leo," Elliot ordered through gritted teeth, all the while internally willing his blush away and turning back to Ronald, "What business do you have here?"

"Um well… your assistant head, er… Mr Lunettes or somethin'? Yeh, he told me last night t' make sure you were down at his or somethin' at 5, and I didn't remember y' leavin', so…"

"Alright…" Elliot groaned, "You can go now!"

"Y-yes!" Ronald obeyed promptly, turning around walking back down the corridor, murmuring to himself, "What the hell is up with them two?"

….

"Are we seriously still waiting for Elliot and Leo?" Reim asked, checking his watch precisely every 30 seconds, "They're 15 minutes late!"

"Reim, I'm sure it's okay!" Oz tried to calm him. "They probably just woke up late… we've still got 15 minutes until we have to finish!"

"I suppose you're right…" Reim sighed. The room fell into silence for a brief moment, Reim glancing out of the corner of his eye, immediately spotting Break dozing off in his chair, "Xerx!"

"Hnh?" Break's head snapped up, at which he flinched, "What?"

Reim inspected him up and down suspiciously, questioning, "How much of that wine did you drink last night?"

"Er… some of it… all of it?" Break admitted, the response sounding more like another question, "I'm not hungover."

"Sure," Reim muttered. He didn't buy his lie for even a second, though.

A few moments later, Elliot and Leo burst into the room, Elliot's hand cupped around Leo's wrist.

At that point, Reim lost his cool. "Where the hell were you?! We're late."

"Calm down, four eyes," Elliot grunted, dragging a still half asleep Leo behind him and dropping into one of the chairs.

"Alright, now that we can begin," Reim started, glaring specifically at the two who had just entered, "I'd like to ask you what you thought of the new house leaders. Do they appear suspicious?"

"Nah," Break dismissed, "The guy, um… I forgot his name."

"No, you're just hungover."

"Shut up Reim, always so uptight~" Break teased, "But, yeh. He's fine~~"

"Alright… Oz?"

"Ah, he's soooo smart!" Oz beamed, "And he's so friendly… there's something about him, I just can't describe it… his eyes are also sooo mesmerising. Oh, that's another thing. His eyes are red."

"Oh, well that's strange," Break pointed out, "I haven't detected any unusual signs of the Abyss since they arrived. Gilbert?"

Gilbert shook his head. "Nothing…"

Break considered it for a bit, concluding, "That means he can't be a child of ill omen. Not to mention he'd have been killed by now if he was."

"You haven't been killed yet," Reim shot him a perplexed look.

"No, but I'm too skilled to die~" Break chuckled lightly to himself, "Anyway, if he's not a child of ill omen, then what is he? Can chains disguise themselves as humans without carrying a scent of the Abyss?"

"It's difficult, but they probably could if someone tried really hard to mess with the power of the Abyss," Reim explained, "But that would just end in another tragedy, so I don't see why someone would want to meddle with that kind of power."

"Could he be another type of lifeform which we just don't know about?" Elliot suggested.

"Ha," Break snorted mockingly, "Like what?"

"No, don't dismiss it," Reim scolded him, "Whether he's linked to the Abyss or not, we can't dismiss it. He's not a child of ill omen, which means he can't be human."

The room fell into a thick silence once again; everyone meddled within their own thoughts.

About a minute later, Leo spoke up. "I don't think our house leader is human either."

"Huh?!" Elliot gasped, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, the colour of his eyes was multiple colours, and the gold colour stood out as well. That gold is, once again, only ever associated with the Abyss," Leo explained, "But, once again, if Break and Gilbert are the only _people_ who are directly linked to the Abyss here, then he's not human either."

"How the hell do you know about all of that?" Elliot interrogated.

Leo, on the other hand, just shifted uncomfortably, hanging his head. "I just know…"

"Now that you mention it…" Gilbert added, "The 'guy' leading our house had the same kind of eyes. It didn't really click with me as anything strange, though. But now that you point it out, the golden eyes linked to the Abyss makes sense. Once again, I didn't detect anything from the Abyss, so…"

"Alright…" Reim murmured, wracking his brain for information, "Xerx? Were your house leader's eyes the same?"

"I don't know."

"Xerx…why must you be so unobservant?"

"No, silly Reim~" Break teased sarcastically, "He had his eyes covered. I didn't seem them, but he's not linked to the Abyss either."

"Could he keep them covered up for the same reason as you?" Elliot asked Leo, lowering his voice.

Leo shook his head promptly, "No. I'd… be able to tell too…"

"Could he be covering them because they're the same as the other 2 then?" Reim theorised, "He's also not human?"

"It's a possibility," Break replied, "My my, look at the time~"

"Oh, yes!" Reim realised, "People will be waking up soon. I suggest you go and begin your morning duties. Remember to stay vigilant; we must find out what these people are."

…

Meanwhile, while the meeting was going on, Ciel had been the first of the fags to wake up to an empty bedroom. Instead of wondering where Break had ventured to, he simply climbed out of bed, taking advantage of his absence and using it as an opportunity to do a bit of digging around.

"I'm not even sure he went to sleep last night…" Ciel mentioned to himself, standing up and beginning with his suitcase, "I don't remember seeing him retire… I fail to understand how he is able to wake up at this time…"

Checking the door over his shoulder, Ciel pulled the case out from underneath the bed, finding to his dismay that it had a lock on it.

"What a bother…" he muttered, removing one of the pins from his night clothes and eventually picking the lock.

Quickly, and fully aware that he didn't have long, Ciel opened the luggage, discovering only a couple of different clothing items spread across the top of the compartment. He pulled away the clothes, revealing what was hidden underneath.

"You have _got_ to be joking…" Ciel face palmed, staring down at the mountains of sweets and cakes, " _This_ is all that freak brought with him?"

Exhaling deeply, Ciel yawned, replacing the items back to where they were and making sure everything returned to exactly where it had previously been.

Right before he could give up, he noticed a slight crack in the floorboards beside the window. Ciel checked the door once again to make sure no one was approaching, before approaching the area of suspicion and pulling up the loose piece of wood.

Easily, the wood came off of the floor, revealing a small compartment – probably not bigger than 50 by 50 cm – containing a few singular objects.

The first thing which Ciel noticed was a quite clearly empty bottle of wine, secluded in the corner of the compartment. Picking it up, he checked the date, trying to deduce how long this had been there. Unfortunately, he found nothing, simply replacing it to where he'd discovered it.

Shuffling through a few loose envelopes, Ciel couldn't help but let his thoughts wander. "I wonder if he's not as young as he's letting off… I don't really understand how he could have that in his possession otherwise…"

Most of the envelopes contained either old reports or Polaroid pictures which were covered in either blood or dust, or both. One of the pictures, however, remained completely clear.

The picture itself was fairly plain, the only people in it being a younger girl, a pretty middle aged woman holding the child, and Break himself sitting stretched across the lawn, right beside the other two.

On closer inspection, Ciel noticed that the Break in the picture looked the same as he did now; all except a large bandage covering his left eye.

"The photo must've been taken recently… I'll have to find out more about his family at some point…" Ciel thought aloud, "I wonder what happened to his eye…"

Just before he put it back, something caught his eye on the back of the photo; several lines of writing.

 _Xerx,_

 _Don't push yourself; if you can't do something then don't try._

 _Neither me nor Sharon can help you._

 _Just come and find me if you're struggling. I won't mind._

 _And, whatever happens – even if you're in a life or death situation – please don't use Mad Hatter._

 _Reim._

 _P.S. Don't tell anyone about your eyesight now._

"His eyesight…?" Ciel questioned, re-reading the note, "Who is Sharon… what is 'Mad Hatter'…?"

With many questions circulating his mind, Ciel replaced the items, finishing his search there. Climbing back into bed and pretending to sleep, he couldn't help but let his suspicions continue wandering.

 _Where… have these people come from?_

…

In the Scarlet Fox dormitory, Alois had had a similar idea.

However, in his case, he was simply invading Gilbert's personal space and searching through his things out of spite, curiosity and boredom.

"Boring… boring… also pointless…" Alois mumbled to himself, messing up the previously neatly folded clothes, "This guy seems to have an awful taste in fashion. I mean seriously… everything else which isn't school uniform is just… black… plain black."

Giving up on the drawers, Alois cleared them back up neatly, rearranging it to briefly resemble what it had looked like previously.

"I wonder if he has a diary…" Alois considered, wandering over to the chest of drawers, opening the top one and searching through it, eventually coming across a small brown book, labelled 'Diary'. "Jackpot… aha, I am just too brilliant."

Flicking through to the middle page, Alois started reading odd parts out loud from one of the entries about two months ago. "Week commencing blah blah blah… aha, Monday… 'Today I gave up trying to quit smoking. That stupid Break kept teasing me about it,' hm… ha, weak willed guy, I should've figured that much out… hm, I guess him and Break were always together then. Clearly wasn't at Weston though… hm, Wednesday… 'That stupid rabbit set fire to the kitchen. She tried to blame Oz, but she should've known I'd never betray my master…' Eh? Oz is his master? Hm, weird."

Alois continued scanning through the pages, letting out the odd caustic remark every now and again before finally reaching the pages where he came in.

"'Some kid called Alois came into my dorm today'… aha, this is when that boring old sod's life got a bit more interesting… 'He's slightly obnoxious'… oh, that's just rude… 'and for some reason, he reminds me of Vince'," Alois continued, frowning at the insult, "Who the hell is Vince? Probably his lover or something."

Tossing the diary back into the drawer recklessly, Alois tried searching one more thing; that being the blazer hung up on the wall.

Checking the door before taking the blazer off the hook, the first thing Alois checked was the inside pocket, the one which Gil always seemed overly protective of. Inside it, he discovered an almost full pack of cigarettes with a lighter, tucked away neatly and otherwise out of sight.

Alois smirked mockingly, "Stupid aristocracy… think they look all fancy but they're just slowly dying. Oh well, his life is fairly boring, I'm sure no one would miss him." Leaning forward to search deeper into the pockets, the blonde found nothing else of interest, simply giving up on his search and collapsing back onto his bed.

Collapsing onto his bed, Alois buried his face in the pillow, waiting for Gilbert to return so that he could get away with reporting back to Grell.

…

Meanwhile, in the Sapphire Owl house, the thought of waking up early hadn't even crossed Charles' mind yet, the 'student' still currently in bed.

When Oz returned from the meeting at about 5:35am, he was surprised to discover Charles still asleep, considering he should've known that they were due at breakfast in only 10 minutes.

"Er… Charles?" Oz asked, waking the other by shaking him lightly on the shoulder, "Wake up… we need to be at breakfast in a bit?"

"Nhn…" Charles murmured, his voice muffled by the covers. He sat up groggily, running hand through his dishevelled hair and glancing at Oz. "Huh… crap."

Oz tilted his head confusedly at him. "Is everything okay?"

"Uh, yeh…" Charles yawned, "I was going to finish, uh, unpacking whilst you were out, but I forgot to wake up."

"Oh, well you can do that later," Oz pointed out, "I'll, er… get ready for breakfast now…"

"Cool."

There was brief silence, the previous conversation from the meeting flashing back in Oz's mind, his curiosity piquing as he turned to Charles and asked, "Do you know anything about our house warden?"

"Huh?" Charles muttered, finally working up the will power to drag himself out of bed. Usually, when he was working for Her Majesty, Phipps would be involved in waking him up, and so he hoped that this would be a bit of a break from all of that. Obviously, that was fairly shallow hope.

Oz continued, "Well… how old he is? Where has he come from? Have you ever met him before in previous aristocrat gatherings?"

Charles turned to him, quickly growing suspicious at the outburst of questions. "What makes you think I have? I know nothing about the guy… why do you want to know, anyway?"

"Uh, well… it's difficult to explain," Oz replied, tapping his fingers together in thought, "I guess… something about his aura just seems… off."

"Its fine," Charles reassured whilst concealing a grin with his hair, "I'm sure Sir Michaelis is perfectly harmless…"

…

The rest of the day passed fairly quickly, the 3 fags luckily finding time to secretly get in contact with their house wardens. Additionally, there had been no other confrontations, Reim managing to cancel their planned meeting in the evening as to not seem suspicious.

Currently, the clock had just passed 11pm, the sky now completely black; the stars dissipating into the darkness. Most of Weston College was asleep at this moment in time.

Of course, there were a few exceptions to that, one of those being the prefect and fag of Violet Wolf, the two taking their time to actually get into bed. After a few more minutes of faffing around, however, the two finally settled, climbing into bed in silence.

The discoveries made earlier stayed stuck at the front of Ciel's mind, as he was filled with questions which he was just desperate to ask. But, despite that urge, he knew he had to be discrete about it, and not just dive straight into a mindless, unprofessional interrogation.

"Break?" he whispered, "Are you still awake?"

"Mhm," Break nodded almost immediately in response, despite knowing he couldn't be seen, "I'm not tired either."

"Neither am I," Ciel confided casually, "It's strange being new here; there's certainly a lot going on."

"I found the same when I came here," Break agreed, nonchalantly, "I was never _not_ busy, but it didn't really feel like work."

"So, where did you come from?"

Break froze, desperately trying to form an alibi. "Nowhere in particular… I don't… really have a family, if I'm honest."

"Oh…" Ciel muttered. However, inside, he was just one hundred times more confused, especially at the picture he'd seen. "Sorry for asking… if it's okay with you, I think I'll retire now… tomorrow will be busy as always, I'm sure."

Instead of replying, Break simply stayed silence, screwing his eyes shut and forcing himself to sleep.

However, all he could do for almost half an hour after was toss and turn, the same scenes seemingly flashing back before his eyes every single time he shut them. He didn't exactly want to _blame_ Ciel, but he guessed it was probably the mention of having a family which triggered those memories.

Taking a deep, unsteady breath, Break spoke up, hoping the other was still awake. "Ciel?"

On the other bed, Ciel had just been getting to sleep when he heard his name, wondering what Break could still want. "Eh, yeh?"

"If I wake up screaming, in the middle of the night…" Break whispered, trying not to let his voice shake as much as his hands were against the sheets, "Just… pretend it's not happening…"

"Um… why?" Ciel asked quietly. He turned over, barely spotting Break in the mountain of sheets. "Is that likely to happen?"

Break shrugged, opening his eyes again and squinting at the wall, only managing to make out one giant blur. "At this rate… probably."

…

Along with Violet Wolf, the other house still not completely asleep was Scarlet Fox, Oz and Charles having stayed up until almost quarter to midnight, just trying to figure out their maths homework.

"Argh! I give up!"

Charles sighed, watching as Oz dropped his head onto the desk.

"Maybe that'd be best," the other agreed, standing up and wandering over to his suitcase. He bent down, shuffling around the main compartment briefly. "I'm sure our tutor will help you."

Oz eyed him suspiciously. "And help you as well. I get the impression that you're not as smart as you think you are."

"Hey!" Charles said defensively, his hair whipping past his shoulder as he turned to face the other, "I'm just not very good at maths."

"Hmph," Oz fake pouted, eventually sitting up, "What are you looking for?"

"This," Charles grinned proudly at himself, pulling out two bottles of beer and handing on to Oz, "Want one?"

"Er…" Oz stuttered, unwillingly surrendering to peer pressure and taking it, "I don't think we're allowed alcohol on school premises but… thanks."

"Sure," Charles muttered, walking back over to his bed and sitting cross legged onto it, opening his before chucking the bottle opener across the room to Oz, "It won't matter anyway. No one'll find out. Anyway, tell me a little bit about yourself."

"Urhm… why are you asking me this?" Oz questioned, grimacing at the foul taste of the alcohol as he took another few sips.

"I dunno," Charles shrugged, "Curious?"

"Oh, well… I like reading, ooh! I lovveeeee the Holy Knight series! Have you ever read it?"

"Uh, no."

"It's about a master and his valet, and its sooo good! I love Edgar! I won't go into detail too much, just in case you want to read it," Oz beamed, not realising how he'd almost finished the entire bottle purely out of excitement.

Meanwhile, Charles gulped down more of the beer, tuning out of Oz's rambling. About 15 minutes later, the two opened two other bottles, opening them with a toast as the clock ticked past midnight.

"Slow down, woah," Charles laughed, "Remember we've got school early tomorrow."

"Heh, it's fine," Oz dismissed it, his words slurred as he felt the effects of the alcohol sink into his brain, "You're drinking a lot too!"

"Yeh, but I drink a lot anyway."

"Oh…" Oz's head dropped, a light blush spread across his cheeks. The two fell into silence, Oz glancing underneath Charles' bed and spotting something interesting. "Uh, hey. Why do you keep a sword under your bed with you?"

"Huh? Oh, this?"

Charles gestured to the sword, leaning over and retrieving it. Carefully, he slipped the sheath from the blade, placing the beer beside him before bringing the sword up into his grip and fiddling with the blade for a bit; inspecting its sharpness.

"Are you good at swordsmanship?" Oz asked.

"Heh," Charles smirked, skilfully swinging the blade up and pointing it dutifully at Oz, the tip exactly in line with his hair line. If they were within close proximity, Oz could've easily lost his head with the force of the swing. "If you're any good at fighting, I'll quite happily have a game with you."

"Oh, no no!" Oz flailed his arms around. "I have no fighting abilities!"

"Aw, shame…" Charles sulked.

"Oh, you should have a match with Break!"

"Huh? Why?"

"He carries his sword around everywhere beneath the cloak, and he's always ready to fight!"

"Is he any good?"

"He's sooo good!" Oz commented, almost dreamily, "He's given me lessons a few times as well, but I can never beat him. He's the most talented swordsman ever!"

Charles abruptly felt himself sober up. _It's as I thought… they knew each other prior to this._ "Sure. I can't wait to play with him then."

"Yeh! Ah…" Oz yawned, dropping the empty bottle onto the floor and stretching, "I'm sleepy now… g'night!"

Charles nodded, finishing off his own drink whilst Oz passed out the moment his head hit the pillow.

Turning the light off, he chuckled lightly to himself, "Heh… tomorrow will surely be interesting…"


	4. Chapter 4

_**(A/Ns: It's late and I need to get off my laptop but oh well. So this is the sword fight, thank you to my friend for helping me because I know nothing about fighting. Once again, this has references to previous arcs, so please don't read if you aren't up to date with either manga. I spent so so long trying to figure out who would win the fight, and once again, my friend helped me. There is a lot of Break in this, so I guess this is the chapter where it becomes obvious that everyone is investigating each other.**_

 _ **Please review! You know it makes the writer very happy!**_

 _ **Content warnings: violence, some drinking, blood.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji, Pandora Hearts or any of the characters)**_

 **Chapter 4**

It was 2am, the only signs of life on the Weston College campus being the 4 people stood on the roof of the Sapphire Owl dorm, surrounding houses shadowing the area; the school barely visible through the fog. Rain fell heavily, the night sky concealed by thick, black clouds.

Well, maybe 'people' wasn't the most accurate word to use.

"Bassy~" Grell whined, pouting as he ran a finger through his now soaking wet, red locks, "Why did you drag me outside in such _dreary_ weather?"

Sebastian sighed, face palming at the grim reaper, "Grell, it does not matter. We shall be doing exactly this almost every night, assuming we can all leave unnoticed. Now, I presume you have each gathered some useful information?"

Grell, Ronald and Undertaker all nodded.

"That's better than I expected," Sebastian continued, "Firstly, Ronald? Considering you don't actually have a student uncover, I'd expect you to have the least information."

"Y-yeh… I don't 'ave much, but I've got somethin'," Ronald muttered, yawning impolitely as he did so, "The two boys… uh, Elliot and Leo, yeh, well… they seem like, proper close."

"What do you mean by 'close'?" Grell scoffed, "That's not enough detail! I'd have thought you'd been around _me_ long enough to know what 'love' looks like! Just take me and dear Bassy as an example, that's the very _definiti-_ "

Grell was promptly cut off; by Sebastian's hand making contact roughly with his head.

"Ouch," Grell flinched, "Rude…"

Sebastian – once again – face palmed, before gesturing for Ronald to continue.

"Yeh, anyway…" Ronald tried to pick up off from where he'd stopped, shifting awkwardly, "When I walked in this mornin', they were proper close, like… touchin' and stuff, and I know my way around the ladies, if y' know what I mean, so, I know that's not normal for people who are jus' friends."

"Hm…" Sebastian hummed in thought, "Although not solid evidence for anything deviant, it's a well-known custom for a physical relationship between two people to take time to develop, especially if they're both male; that's practically unheard of. Considering this school hasn't been open for the longest of time, I suppose that could imply that they know each other from somewhere else. Actually, now that I think about it, that supports what I discovered myself today."

"Ooh~ Such a smart man~" Grell purred at him, flicking a leg over his knee. Sebastian responded with a weak glare. "Alright alright, I'll shut up now. So cruel~"

"Thank you. As I was saying, this evening, Charles Grey succeeding in somehow getting Oz drunk; as reported to me approximately an hour ago after Oz had passed out. As irresponsible as that is, it did prove productive to an extent. Apparently, Oz revealed that he had been taught swordsmanship by Break, the fag of Violet Wolf. That means that, at the very least, Oz and Break are from the same place," Sebastian explained.

"And Gilbert," Grell added abruptly after a brief pause.

"What?"

"Well, that little brat went poking around his things, as he told me this afternoon," Grell recalled, "According to Gilbert's diary, both he and Oz, as well as Break were all living in the same place."

"Interesting… could it be that Elliot and Leo are also from that place?" Sebastian theorised, red eyes staring off into the distance in thought, completely unfazed by the rain spitting against them.

"Reim was with them as well," Undertaker declared suddenly, breaking the silence.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes at him. "Elaborate."

"Certainly," Undertaker chuckled, "This morning, you see, the young lord was also poking his nose into things, and discovered a letter from Reim."

"What did this letter contain?" Sebastian question, running his fingers through his drenched hair and pulling the loose strands away from his eyes.

"Something about how, if he were struggling, he was supposed to go and find Reim. There was also something regarding his eyesight… I think the poor boy's blind…"

Sebastian turned towards Undertaker, red eyes thinning at him as his fringe draped subtly away from the reaper's phosphorescent pupils. Questioningly, he asked, "How can you tell?"

"It's fairly simple, you see~" Undertaker chuckled, "When he was in me office a couple of nights ago, I noticed that the boy's eyes didn't follow me when I moved. In fact, he very rarely made eye contact, almost as if he didn't know where I even was. His awareness is good though. I don't think Ciel has figured it out yet."

"I'll have to look further into them…" Sebastian muttered to himself, "Normally, in a situation like this, I'd search the public records for everyone in England. But, obviously, the current situation renders me unable to do so. And so, for now, I suppose we have to leave it to the 'students' to figure out."

"Not necessarily~" Undertaker countered, grinning at the demon.

Sebastian exhaled tiredly, "Must you be so vague?"

"Oh~ I see… well then, I'll be specific. To put it bluntly, earlier today, I took a quick trip down to the Grim Reaper Library of Cinematic Records. I couldn't find the name 'Xerxes Break' anywhere."

"Hang on a minute!" Grell interjected, "You broke into the grim reaper library?!"

"Hey, yeh! Grell's got a point," Ronald added, "I thought they made a rule against deserters!"

Undertaker grinned, lowering his head and letting his silver grey fringe fall over his eyes, "You should know by now… I'm really not one for playing by the rules."

The group fell into silence, the only sound being the rain hitting the roof violently.

"You're all free to leave now," Sebastian dismissed, "And remember to keep in contact with Alois and Ciel. If there's no records of Break and they all come from one place, then chances are there will be no records of any of them."

The 3 reapers nodded, going their own separate ways as they leapt from one building to the next, creeping into their designated dormitory without waking anyone else up, or seeming suspicious.

That was, all except for Undertaker, who simply stayed on the top of the Violet Wolf house. The surrounding grounds always seemed so much more dismal and dark than the other dorms, dead grass being shadowed by dying trees, a rusted, black fence to cut it all off.

"Oh dear…" Undertaker murmured to himself, a faint smile stretched across his lips. Suddenly, he heard the distressed scream of someone – someone very familiar – coming from inside, followed by a low _crash,_ "That poor boy indeed… I don't know why… but I feel like something verrryyyyy~ bad must've happened to him…"

…..

"STOP IT!"

Break awake with a jolt, screaming uncontrollably a little bit more as he rolled over, falling off of the bed and landing roughly onto the floor. He opened his eyes, seeing nothing but darkness.

Fortunately, it hit him what had happened shortly after, the aching in his muscles as a result of the fall snapping him back into reality.

"Ow… what the…?" Break muttered to himself, bringing a hand up to sooth the already bruising point on the side of his head, where his temples had broken the fall. The other hand snaked underneath one of the sheets, as he attempted to untangle himself from the prison of bed sheets he'd somehow gotten himself trapped in.

On the other side of the room – to no surprise – Ciel had woken up due to the scream, the crash and the frustrated murmurs. He opened his eyes groggily, the clouds outside still pitch black and pouring with rain.

Soon after, he identified the source of the noise, sitting up and spotting Break on the floor. At least, he assumed the moving heap of sheets was Break.

"Um… Break?" Ciel asked hesitantly, staring as the other continued struggling, "Are you alright? You woke up screaming…"

"Eh? Oh… I know…" Break scowled, finally finding his way out of the sheets and readjusting to the light of the room. It took a while for him to focus his vision to the best of his ability, but he was soon after able to climb back onto the mattress, crawling under the duvet and letting out a deep sigh, "Ah… just do as I said earlier… pretend it never happened."

"Um… I can try…" Ciel replied uneasily, lying back down and facing Break, who just stared at the wall, "But it's a bit… shocking to wake up to that."

"Sorry for waking you up then," Break chuckled, unsure how to reply, "It doesn't matter anyway. I'm used to it, you know~"

"Oh… well then… are you going to back to sleep?" Ciel questioned, feigning tiredness and he pretended to yawn, "That abrupt awakening certainly made me feel sleepy."

"Go ahead, I'm not," Break told him, turning over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling, "Night."

"Um… yes, goodnight."

Ciel closed his eyes, rotating his body so that his back was turned to the rest of the room.

He only pretended to sleep.

About half an hour passed, until Break crept out of bed, stealthily approaching the window, all the while conscious not to make the floor creak. Ciel hadn't stirred at all, and so Break was fairly convinced that he was still fast asleep.

Opening the compartment underneath the window pane, he silently pulled out another, half-filled bottle of wine (because Reim had refused to hand him a full one, given the circumstances last time). Screwing the cap off, he couldn't be bothered to look for a glass, and he raised the bottle to his lips, sipping the bitter liquid.

"Ugh…" Break grimaced, eyes squinted at the bottle label in a hopeful yet failed attempt to read it, "Oh… it's white. Huh, silly Reim~"

Across the room, Ciel was still listening intently, watching through the corner of his slightly parted eyelids.

Break continued muttering to himself, eyes still screwed up at the bottle, "I don't even know what I'm drinking… oh well~"

 _Can it really be that the letter was right?_ Ciel asked himself mentally, _Is he really… blind?_

…

"Oz? Are you alright? You look really rough."

It was lunch time the following day, the usual 8 students gathered in the gazebo.

Elliot was stretched out across the sofa again, a book resting over his eyes and blocking out the light. Leo stood behind the sofa, listening in on the conversation but not exactly contributing.

Gilbert and Oz were, once again, on the same sofa. Gilbert was slumped backwards in his usual, lazy and fed up position, whilst Oz was curled up against the arm of the chair, an elbow leaning on the arm with his head resting against it. His facial expression was just grim as he slowly nodded off.

"Oz?" Gilbert repeated worriedly, waving a hand in front of the blonde's face before turning to face Charles, "Oi. What did you do to him?"

"Me?" Charles asked innocently, leaning against the back of the sofa and grinning, "I didn't do anything!"

"Hm… I'd say he looks a bit like Gilbert when he has a hangover~" Break teased, receiving a weak glare from the other as he continued stacking up the slices of cake, fiddling around with his fork in his mouth.

Only at that point did Oz realise they were talking about him, lifting his head up idly. "Hm? Oh… 'm fine… just a bit tired."

"Well… alright then," Gilbert murmured, patting the inside pocket of his blazer. He stood up, wandering away from the group and down the path. "I'm off."

"Should I come with you?" Alois asked, smirking internally. Oh, how he just loved annoying people.

Gilbert stared at him. "If I wanted you two, I'd have ordered you to. So, no."

"Rude…" Alois sulked, dropping his shoulders and moving around to perch on the arm of the chair, "Why is he so grumpy?"

"Try looking a little deeper for a reason… or in a mirror…" Oz groaned, slapping himself lightly and dragging a hand over his eye sockets, "Sorry… that was rude. I just feel like crap."

"What exactly did you do last night, if I may ask?" Ciel questioned, glaring at Charles.

"Nothing… much," Charles flinched under Ciel threatening gaze. "Just had a little drink, that's all."

"You have got to be kidding me…" Ciel deadpanned.

Slow to react as always, Oz yelled, "Nooo! You weren't supposed to tell everyoneee! I could get in trouble."

"No one'll find out," Elliot grunted, "Shorty."

"I'm not that short!" Oz whined, "Ugh… I don't remember anything from last night."

Charles grinned inside, knowing he had him right where he wanted him.

The remaining group fell into silence for a few moments, until Charles decided to break the lingering tension.

"Hey, uh… Elliot, was it?"

"Yeh?" Elliot sat up slowly, the book falling from his face as he picked it up and tossed it at Leo.

"I noticed you always seem to carry around a sword, even to your lessons," Charles mentioned casually, "Do you do much training when you're at home?"

"Uh, yeh," Elliot answered, "My father entrusted this to me. I haven't actually used it yet, though."

"Ah… I see."

"What makes you so interested?" Elliot asked him suspiciously, fiddling with the sheath attached to his waist, "If you want to try fighting with someone, talk to him."

Break glanced upwards from his cake to see Elliot pointing at him. "Eh?"

"Elliot here was just telling me you're good at swordsmanship," Charles told him, smirking slightly, "I have to say, I'm intrigued."

"Oh~" Break hummed, a smile creeping across his lips as he pulled away the part of the cloak with covered his waist, revealing a long, thin sword attached to his trousers; otherwise concealed. He wrapped his hand around the handle, pulling it away and holding it up. "I haven't fought in a while, actually. I'm sore from last night, actually."

"Ah, so that would put me at an advantage?" Charles grinned cockily.

"I wouldn't go that far," Break laughed, "But if you're really up for it, I'll have a little fake-fight some time with you."

"What about now?" Charles proposed, "I keep my sword with me under the bed, just so you know."

Break nodded, his face determined, "I'm looking forward to it."

Charles ran off promptly, leaping over a hedge in one swift jump before disappearing from the area.

"What happened to you last night?" Oz asked drowsily.

Break shifted slightly, pausing for a moment before replying, "I fell off my bed in the middle of the night."

"Huh…"

"Are you sure it's a good idea to fight Charles Grey?" Ciel asked Break nervously, questioning the prefect's abilities. Whilst he seemed fairly confident, Ciel knew full well how strong and skilled Charles was as a swordsman; he's managed to land a blade in his demon butler's back, after all. "He's rumoured to be very strong amongst the aristocracy, and neither of you are using fake swords, I presume. Are you positive that he won't kill you?"

Break shrugged, running a cloth over the razor sharp blade, "Are you doubting me, Ciel~?"

"Um… no, I just…" Ciel's voice faded off, "Never mind…"

A minute later, Gilbert returned, staring in confusion at Break, as he continued polishing his sword. Only slightly concerned, he asked, "Why does Break have his sword out? Is he going to kill someone or something?"

"Probably not," Oz sighed, "Him and Charles are gonna play fight or something."

Gil paused for a bit, before simply shrugging, and dropping onto the sofa whilst muttering, "Okay."

Shortly after, Charles leapt back over the bush, a sword held tightly in his hand.

"Alright, let's do this," he declared confidently, removing the sheath from the blade and tossing it aside, "Is this enough space?"

"Should be," Break replied, standing up and wandering into the open space in front of the gazebo on the lawn. He stretched a few times, leaning over and exercising his muscles before getting in the beginning position.

"I'd rather not kill you," Charles countered, placing one foot in front of the other directly in front of Break, "How are we doing this?"

Observing his surroundings – including his opponent – and familiarising the area, Break suggested, "First to the floor and blade to the neck?"

"Sounds good to me."

Ciel and Alois both moved around to the side of the gazebo to get a better view. It seemed suspicious and risky; especially to Ciel, who was fairly certain there was something not right with Break's eyesight.

On the other sofa, Elliot gestured for Leo to sit, at which he did, perching on the cushions strangely close to Elliot. The blonde pulled him closer slightly, kicking one of his legs up onto the table in front of them and telling Leo to sit closer. Leo hesitated for a moment, before shuffling closer and leaning against the other's shoulder. They both shifted slightly, Elliot hanging an arm on the cushion behind them and turning them both to watch the match.

Gilbert stared at the pair for a moment, slightly put off by their close proximity but brushing it off shortly after to pay attention to the match.

"Are you counting down?" Ciel asked, still slightly concerned about how this would play out for both parties.

Charles considered it for a moment, before raising his sword into the air and lowering it to his opponent with a smirk. "Sod it!"

All of a sudden, Charles lunged forwards, thrusting his sword at Break forcefully. Break flinched straight away, dodging the attack in one swift movement by stepping back, raising his own sword and slamming it down to cut off Charles' second strike.

The sound of clashing metal echoed around the garden, the razor sharp metal of the two blades touching briefly but with a lot of force, until they were raised again.

Abruptly, Break launched himself forwards, pushing the tip of his sword towards Charles in an attempt to throw him off balance. However, Charles dived to the side only a split second later, swinging the blade upwards and striking directly downwards at Break.

Break gritted his teeth, fully aware of his surrounding as he lunged backwards, hands barely connecting with the ground as he flipped his body, opening the gap between them before landing steadily on two feet. He readied his sword once again, holding it firmly as Charles leapt straight at him, his sword boring down onto Break.

Skilfully, Break spun around to the side again, rotating his sword 360 in an attempt to knock him off his feet. Charles dived forwards, brushing past him with a gust of wind as he jumped, and landed behind Break tactfully.

"Got you now!" Charles chanted, all too modest as he raised his leg, stumbling to the side of the other and preparing to strike, which would hopefully knock his opponent to the ground.

However, just before he was knocked off his feet, Break lunged backwards, effortlessly leaping up into the air and flipping his body, landing gracefully – and directly behind of Charles.

"I wouldn't say that~" he mocked, delivering an extremely powerful blow to an unsuspecting Charles from behind.

"What the-?!" Charles gasped, the hit from Break knocking him off balance.

Within a split second, Break had closed the gap between them, their swords clashing once again in a close combat fight. Unfortunately (for him at least) Charles had already been thrown off, stumbling backwards and trying to defend himself from the strikes being delivered every other second. He swung his sword upwards firmly, pushing Break away from him slightly.

Break leapt backwards, landing safely on two feet before charging for his opponent again. His attacks were now all close range, Charles pitifully trying to block them all with a few, uncalculated swings of his own sword.

During one of the final strikes from Break, their swords locked precisely, the thin blades not giving way as both competitors pushed towards each other desperately, trying to throw the other off with a confident grin.

"You're strong, I'll give you that," Charles smirked through strongly gritted teeth, "I'm still confident in myself you know!"

Just as Charles swung his sword up once more to break free, Break countered his attack tactfully, raising his own sword and capturing Charles' dutifully. Once he was in his control, Break rotated the blade; knocking the other sideways and making his grip on the handle lose.

"You were saying?" Break mocked, watching as Charles swayed, the handle only balancing in his hand now; contrary to the previous, precise grip he once had.

Acting on instinct, Charles lunged forward once again, bringing the sword above his head and thrusting it down at Break. The strike had no accuracy, however, and was easily avoided by the other.

Break leapt back expeditiously, spinning on his heel before delivering one, final blow to Charles, knocking the sword right out of his hand and sending it flying. Weakened by the sudden attack, Charles lost his balance immediately, falling backwards roughly onto the ground and landing on his back.

Smirking triumphantly with tightly furrowed eyebrows, Break approached him, stepping over Charles and dropping to his knees. He straddling Charles' waist, lowering his sword agonisingly slowly until it finally reached his opponent's neck.

"I win," Break declared, his blade hovering only a few millimetres from Charles' neck.

"H-how… how the hell?!" Charles asked, completely and utterly astonished.

A sly, proud grin crept onto Break's face, as he raised a finger submissively to his lips. "It's a secret."

Meanwhile, everyone else in the gazebo had been left in absolute silence, all of them staring wordlessly at what they'd just witnessed.

Eventually, Break stood up again with the support of his own sword, slipping it into the sheath and wandering back over the gazebo. Casually, and as if nothing had just happened, he dropped down into his chair with an exhausted sigh, collapsing against the back. "Wooh… I'm hunger now."

The rest remained silent, still trapped by their astonishment.

On the lawn, Charles simply lay there; speechless and panting strenuously.

"Are you alright?" Ciel asked him, Alois trailing behind as two wandered over to him.

"Eh… why not," Charles shrugged, standing up and brushing himself off, "Jeez… that really was something else."

"I've never seen you lose in a fight before," Ciel muttered, lowering his voice. He couldn't hold back as a smug expression developed on his face.

"Stop smirking," Charles slapped him lightly, "I've never lost before an-"

The three's conversation was promptly cut off by the sounds of hoarse coughing, a violent retching sound following shortly after.

"Break!" Oz yelled, rushing over to the other, "What happened? You pushed yourself too hard, didn't you?"

Ciel, Alois and Charles all hastily ran over, acknowledging the scene as Gilbert, Elliot, Leo and Oz all huddled over Break on the floor.

"What happened?" Ciel asked.

"He collapsed!" Gilbert yelled back harshly, "Someone go get Reim. Now!"

Wanting to escape the chaos (and his responsibilities), Alois hurried off, doing as he'd been ordered.

Ciel and Charles stepped further into the gazebo, spotting Break curled up and unconscious on the floor besides the sofa.

And…

 _Blood?_


	5. Chapter 5

**_(A/Ns: I'm back with my second ever lemon! Aha, I always embed my lemons into stories, because they usually play a part in the plot, especially in this one. Yes, it's rated M for a reason... i'm still self-conscious about writing them. So, I know I focus on Break a lot, but... its very biased. The other characters will come into the next chapter a lot more, I promise. I had kinda fun looking into Break's weaknesses, because we all know he has them! I officially plan to end this at ch 8, and have plans through to them. I hope to finish this by 23rd April so I can start another one on that day, hence im updating quite quickly. So yeh, this is the longest chapter so far... I hope you can spot the plot developing now._**

 ** _Please review! Theres a few followers and i'd love to know what everyone's thinking!_**

 ** _Content warnings: yaoi (boyxboy) lemon (graphic sexual scene basically), mild swearing._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji, Pandora Hearts or any of the characters)_**

 **Chapter 5**

 _It's dark._

 _There's blood._

 _I'm-_

"Xerx!"

Break's eyes snapped open, a blurred figure directly above him. He shot up hastily, head smacking into the other's forehead.

"Ouch!" the other yelped, holding a hand to his forehead and readjusting his glasses. Worriedly, he glanced down, noticing as Break thrashed around. He placed a hand around his wrist, stopping the other in his panic. "Xerx, it's me."

Break panted for a few moments, finally calming down and looking up to see Reim. "Oh, hey Reim~"

Reim frowned bitterly at him, dropping the other's wrist and walking away, "Don't sweet talk me out of lecturing you. You should know by now that you're in trouble."

"Aw," Break fake pouted, sitting up wearily. It was then that he realised where he was; Reim's office. The décor was standard but antique. In the centre of the room, there was a large oak desk, piles and piles of paperwork stacked up around the edges. There was a large cupboard across from that, and Break knew that that was where Reim harboured all of the forbidden items; such as alcohol and cake (which was primarily reserved for him).

A moment later, Break felt himself grow slightly light headed, a tingling sensation in his throat sending him into a harsh coughing fit. At the pained sounds of retching, Reim hurried other, placing a hand on his friend's back, all the while still scowling at his irresponsibility. Pulling his hand away from his mouth for a moment, Break swatted Reim's hand away, pushing the other backwards.

He coughed once more, a large amount of blood splattering onto his hands. Break let out a heavy sigh, wiping the blood away from the corner of his mouth and chuckling regretfully at the sight of Reim on the floor, which made him think of one particular incident. To be specific, one which occurred only a few days after he'd escaped the Abyss; barely alive.

"And to think I'd gotten better since then…" Break exhaled, picking up the blanket which he'd previously been wrapped in and wiping his hands recklessly, cleaning the blood from them to avoid staining his white uniform. A shudder ran through him as he pulled the violet cloak over his shoulder, tilting his head back against the wall of the window sill and glancing out the window.

"Hm…" Reim pondered on the question, glaring up at his friend on the window sill before standing up, "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Break considered it for a moment, snorting derisively and muttering, "No."

Sighing, Reim changed the question, "How are you feeling now?"

"Eh, good enough," Break shrugged weakly.

"You're lying," Reim accused, sauntering away from his friend and seating himself at his desk, "If I asked you to stand up right now, you'd collapse."

"Did you know, 'Lunettes' means glasses in French~?" Break commented irrelevantly, grinning to himself.

"Stop avoiding the question with the same fact you always use when you don't want to talk about something!" Reim yelled, "Sorry for snapping… but I'm really beginning to feel concerned. So, I'll ask again; how are you feeling now?"

Break shifted uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact with the other as he fessed up. "Weak… drained… but I'm still getting by."

"The young mistress is worried about you doing this," Reim told him, his expression hiding a subtle hint of sadness in his words, "If you want to stop at any point, just say. I can arrange for you-"

"I'm _fine_ , Reim," Break repeated, chuckling softly under his breath, "Just stop worrying about me~"

"I'm sorry," Reim said quietly, "Do you want anything?"

Break's lip curved into a sarcastic grin, eyes still fixed on the slowly setting sun. "It's getting dark. I've missed dinner, haven't I? Hm… I want cake~"

"Hmph," Reim scowled disapprovingly, but nevertheless stood up, making his way over to the cabinet and unlocking it. Wordlessly, he retrieved a slice of cake, handing it to Break and sitting back down at his desk.

"Thank you~" Break teased, licking the icing from the fork, his tongue lapping over the cool metal, "Well well, this is no good~"

"Hm?"

"I get the terrible feeling that Mr. Reim is annoyed with me for some reason."

Reim cocked an eyebrow at him. "You've only just figured that out?"

"No," Break scoffed, laughing caustically, "I just wanted to see how long it would be before you started lecturing me, but… haah… alas, I got bored of playing that game~"

"Do you even realise what you did?" Reim asked, his tone serious, "Xerx, you _collapsed._ You clearly pushed yourself too hard. Fighting for the sake of it; even that _alone_ was pointless! And try to think about how I felt when Alois came running to me, saying you'd collapsed. I thought something terrible had happened! But, no. All it was, was that stupid Xerxes friend being irresponsible, again!"

Break fell silence, unsure of how to react to his friend's outburst.

Reim continued softly, "Sorry… that was harsh."

After a few more moments of silence, Break let out a derisive chuckle, dropping his head against the wall and sighing, "Haah… I really am tragic… the young mistress is always lecturing me, and now youuu~"

"We… we just worry about you…" Reim stuttered, "You're not as young as you used to be…"

Defensively, Break raised an eyebrow. "Ohhh~ Are you trying to call me old~?"

"No. You've the mental age of a child."

"Heh… that's fine," Break hung his head casually, licking the cake from his fork and leaving it dangling loosely from his mouth, "I'm good at being useless, so just let me be for a little bit, eh…?"

….

"Gilbert."

No reply.

"Gilllllllllllbert."

Still no reply.

Sighing, Alois raised his voice, repeating the other's name one last time. "Gilbert!"

"What?" the other groaned, raising his head from the book irritably.

Alois smiled innocently, "I don't understand this homework."

"Well… what don't you understand about it?" Gil sighed. His nerves were teetering on the edge, and this blonde kid's attitude was really making him need a cigarette again.

"Everything," Alois claimed nonchalantly, "Honestly, all of these poems are just mindless drabbles about nature and the writer's _painful_ desire for power. And then there's the political poems, of which are all just full of shit, in my opinion. And now, that eccentric and probably gay teacher of ours is telling me to be 'open minded' when I read poetry. Hah, bullshit."

"Um… remind me," Gilbert muttered, standing up and retrieving his notes, making his way across the room to the blonde, "Why are in this house again?"

Alois pouted arrogantly, "Because I'm rich and spoilt and everyone loves me."

"Hm…" Gil murmured, "What do you need help with in particular?"

Shrugging, Alois replied plainly, "Everything."

"Right…"

Gilbert paused for moment, patting the pocket on the side of his blazer unnoticeably and dropping his notes on the bed.

Alois continued, "The one I don't get the most is My Last Duchess. Honestly, that writer is just so full of himself. So, can you help me? Pleaseee?"

"Uh, sure," Gil agreed reluctantly, "First, though, um… can I go do something real quick?"

Feigning innocence, Alois pretending not to notice as he other's hand itched towards his pocket. He smirked, feeling like teasing the other as he objected, "No. If I don't do it now, I'll fail my literature exam in a few days. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Gilbert sighed, burying a hand in his head, "Alright. Let's get this over and done with quickly."

…

"Undertaker? What business do you have here? Shouldn't you be in the Violet Wolf dorm right now, considering everyone has just gotten back from dinner, and will consequently be doing their homework?"

Sebastian glanced up, spotting Undertaker standing right in front of his desk.

Undertaker responded with his usual, mischievous grin. "Why, I just came to inform you of today's events. Quite interesting it is, I say~"

"Make it quick; I do not wish to arouse suspicion if anyone comes for assistance," Sebastian ordered, "What happened?"

"Certainly," Undertaker chuckled, hopping up onto the demon's desk and kicking his leg over, "Charles and Break decided to have a pretend match of sword fighting, as Ciel has just told me."

"What an irresponsible thing to do…" Sebastian muttered through a sigh, "Go on then. Who got hurt?"

"Welll~ Here's where the interesting part comes in. According to Ciel, Charles lost, but didn't suffer any significant injuries. However, straight away after fighting, Break apparently collapsed, coughing up blood and being carried away by Mr Lunettes," Undertaker explained, his fringe draping over his eyes and concealing his face, "There's something else burdening that poor boy's body; I'm certain of it~"

"I see…" Sebastian pondered, "That certainly is interesting. Has he developed any kind of trust in you?"

Undertaker's grin widened, "Why, the first day we certainly got on well, but I haven't formed any sort of trust within this vague bond~"

"You can't manipulate him at all?"

"I'm not a demon, such as yourself," Undertaker claimed, the same smile remaining. However, if you listened closely, a slight hint of dismay was hidden within his words, "I prefer to take a more… delicate approach to this~"

"And so you have a plan?" Sebastian scowled.

"Yes, I do~" he proclaimed confidently, eyes focused on the rapidly darkening sky outside as the sun slowly sank into the horizon, leaving the sky in a warm ombre fading from orange to purple to black, "I believe I'll be able to get as much out of him as I see fit, you see~"

Sebastian analysed his statement for a moment, before interrogating, "What is this genius plan of yours then?"

Undertaker smirked, wandering off to the door and snickering to himself. Right before he left, however, he stopped, turning on his heel and raising a finger to his lips submissively.

"Shh… that part's a secret~"

…..

Back in the Scarlet Fox, Alois was _still_ pestering Gilbert about the poem, torturing him as well by not letting him go out for a smoke.

"What part don't you understand about what I'm trying to tell you?" Gilbert deadpanned. His nerves were wore thin at Alois' ignorance, and he really, _really_ needed a cigarette by this point.

"It's just stupid," Alois grunted, his pen hovering over the paper, having made barely any notes in the half an hour they'd been there, "The repetition of 'it' means nothing. It's just how the poet wrote it."

"Well… then why did he write it like that?" Gilbert suggested, groaning inwardly at the other's stupidity, "Look, you don't have to _agree_ with the analysis; you just have to understand what the analysis _is._ That's all you have to do."

"I get that," Alois countered, "But if I don't agree with it, I can't exactly write an essay on it."

"Just make it up then!" Gilbert yelled, "Sorry… I just don't understand how you're not getting this."

"Aw, it's not your fault," Alois giggled, "It's the writer's fault for being so shit at writing poems."

"Right…"

The two fell silent, Alois eventually caving and copying down the other's notes. Gilbert, on the other hand, was still planning his lucky escape, glancing up at the clock which currently read 7:57pm.

All of a sudden, Alois spoke again. "Do you think I can write an entire essay on how shit the poem is?"

Gilbert froze, blinking at the over several times before face palming, "No."

"Aw…" Alois frowned. He looked up for a moment to see Gilbert watching the clock anxiously, his fingers tapping repeatedly against the bed. He smirked subtly, "Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeh," Gilbert muttered, being snapped out of his thoughts. He stood up, checking the time once again and announcing, "I just remembered… the assistant head wanted to speak to me at 8. I need to go now."

"Hmph, fine," Alois accepted against his will, slumping his head onto the bed and letting out a deep sigh.

Meanwhile, Gilbert left immediately, hurrying to the secluded area outside of the dorm where he usually went. However, just as he pulled out a cigarette and the lighter, the slam of a door sounded, followed by quiet footsteps.

"Dammit…" Gil cursed under his breath, clutching the stick tightly in his hand before storming off to the main building, where he knew Reim's office was, "I bet that brat's following me…"

….

"Reim."

"Yes?"

"I'm still hungry."

Reim frowned at his friend, gesturing to the cabinet and throwing the key at him. "Knock yourself out."

"Haah… you're such a slave worker," Break teased, swinging his legs over the edge of the window sill and standing up. His steps were uneasy, however, and he was forced to lean against the wall as support.

"Wait… just sit down," Reim instructed, slightly alarmed at his friend's swayed movements as he made his way over to the cabinet, "I'll get it."

"Stop being so worried about me," Break sulked, dropping back down onto the window sill and wrapping back up in the blanket.

Reim handed him the cake, asking irrelevantly, "How's your eyesight been?"

"Eh, hasn't got any worse," Break told him through a mouthful of cake, "I think I'm keeping it a secret well enough. Gilbert and Elliot still don't know."

"Good."

Right before Reim could sit back down at his desk, there was a knock on the door. He headed over to answer it, gesturing for Break to be quiet as he did so.

"Hello?" Reim greeted, opening the door, "Oh, Gilbert. What brings you here?"

Gilbert glanced over his shoulder once more, before walking inside the office and signalling for Reim to close the door.

"Ahhh, Gil~" Break hummed, "Were you worried about me?"

"No…" Gil muttered, "I didn't even know you were in here."

"Oh… how boring."

"Xerx, stop being annoying," Reim scolded, sitting back at his desk, "So, why are you here?"

"Well, that obnoxious blonde kid kept me behind for ages, claiming that he was stuck with poetry or whatever," Gil explained, shifting awkwardly, "I tried to go out for a smoke, considering I'd missed the chance before dinner because of a revision session or whatever, but the kid just kept pestering me. Eventually, I managed to get away by saying I had to be here at 8, but I think he might've followed me. Is it, uh… is it okay to quickly have a cigarette here?"

"Sure, that's no problem," Reim smiled at him, "Just open a window though, please."

"Thanks," Gilbert said gratefully, proceeding to the window where Break currently sat, sticking the cigarette between his lips and leaning over to open the window. Once it was open, he lit up, exhaling a thin stream of smoke along with a relieved sigh.

Beneath him, Break fake coughed, screwing his nose up and teasing the raven, "Hahaah… such a weak willed guy, hmm… maybe you should quit, eh? You wouldn't have this problem~"

"Shut up, Break," Gilbert muttered, taking another drag.

"Ah, whatever," Break retorted, standing up uneasily and making his way to the door, "I'm so tired~"

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Reim asked, slightly concerned.

Immediately, Break's smile faded. He faced the floor, placing a hand gently on the door knob. "Yes… for the most of it."

It was an extremely suspicious answer, but Reim brushed it off nevertheless. "Don't do anything stupid, alright?"

Break didn't respond, simply exiting the room hastily and returning to the Violet Wolf dorm, collapsing onto his bed straight away after staggering up the stairs and passing out immediately.

"He'll be fine," Gilbert reassured Reim, "Like always."

"I guess you're right…" Reim exhaled, straightening his glasses, "So, what else have you managed to find out?"

As Gilbert began explaining, the person outside in the corridor edged further towards the door, pressing his ear up against the door silently with a triumphant smirk.

That person – listening contently to their conversation – was Alois.

….

"Break. Wake up. It's late."

Ciel shook the other's shoulder roughly, causing Break to stir eventually, sitting up wearily.

"Eh… what time is it?" Break asked quietly, squinting at the rest of the room and trying to figure out where he was. His memory was foggy; he could barely remember waking up in Reim's office.

"It's just gone past 10pm."

"Oh…"

Ciel, on the other hand, had just returned from a discussion with Undertaker to find Break asleep, sprawled out the bed with his uniform still on and the lights not switched off.

"How are you?" Ciel asked, "You know, since earlier."

"I'm fine," Break repeated for what was most likely the thousandth time that day, "I guess I fell asleep…"

"Yes… I just got back from Mr Crevan's… he wants to speak with you."

"Oh, I see…" Break murmured, chuckling lightly as he got up off the bed, staggered across the room and opening the door, "Don't wait up for me~"

As Break left, he slowly made his way down the corridor, using the wall as assistance before entering the house warden's office without bothering to knock.

Inside, the teacher stood by the window, gazing out onto the fields of the school. Without turning around, he instantly knew that Break had arrived. "Hehe… I see Ciel passed on my message then. I've been expecting you."

"Sounds slightly off putting, _sir_ ," Break grinned, shutting the door behind him and dropping into one of the chairs opposite the desk, which – in contract to Reim's – had nothing on it, spare a few stray pens, "Why did you call me in here, if I may ask? It's rather late, you know~"

"I wanted to ask you about today," he responded, wandering over to the door and locking it. Break didn't say anything, simply keeping his eyes locked on the floor as the other returned to lean on the desk in front of him, addressing him, "You pushed yourself too far, did you not~?"

Break shifted uncomfortably, feeling like a little kid getting scolded by their mother (not that he knew what that felt like), and muttering hesitantly, "Sir, I really don't-"

"Ah, stop calling me 'sir'," he interrupted, his smirk growing, "How about you call me by my alias, 'Undertaker', hm? I'd say that'd be more familiar~"

"Just what are trying to get out of this, _Undertaker_?" Break questioned, his tone bitter as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously up at his teacher.

Undertaker grinned, teasing the other. "Didn't you know it's considered polite to look at someone when they're speaking to you?"

"Hm…" Break hummed under his breath, glancing up reluctantly and trying to guess whether Undertaker was. He attempted to make eye contact, his singular crimson eye scanning the room blindly.

"As I thought…" Undertaker muttered, before a smile twitched at his lips once again. With Break's eye following him determinedly, he closed the gap between them, bending down and straddling the chair's arms, just hovering over Break's lap. Placing a finger subtly onto his chin, Undertaker lifted the student's head upwards, forcing eye contact. "I know your secret."

Shifting in the seat, Break tried to resist the temptation, the blurred figure which stood in front of him previously now only centimetres from his face. He scoffed, "Tsk… what secret?"

"I've been around long enough to tell a troubled person when I see one, you see~" Undertaker let out a low chuckle, edging closer to the other. "Tell me… what's troubling you so~?"

"Ngh… it's nothing," Break grunted, feeling as his face reddened slightly and turning away, "You don't need to know my past."

"No, I don't _need_ to," Undertaker agreed, forcing his focus back up to him, gazing directly into his eyes, "But I _want_ to know… I want to help you forget~"

"I don't… need to forget…" Break tried to resist, squirming around in the seat. He swallowed thickly as Undertaker dropped onto his lap, now fully straddling his hips. Their bodied pressed together, and Break quickly felt his body temperature increase at the close proximity.

 _I can see where this is going…_ he thought frantically to himself, _this is wrong… Reim will be-_

"Tell me your secrets, and I'll tell you mine," Undertaker bargained, gliding a finger underneath Break's eyes gently and brushing away his fringe, "You can tell me what happened to this eye… and I'll tell you what I _truly_ am…"

"I-I don't-"

"Plus," Undertaker cut him off, "You might get a little something extra in return, you know~"

Break froze, panting slightly in the other's grip as he tried to hold back. His mind became clouded; his vision was hazy.

"I know you can't see me right now~" Undertaker whispered, his hot breath brushing past Break's ear, only enticing the other more. Grinning, he ran his fingers through his hair, pulling the fringe away from his face and fully exposing his chartreuse phosphorescent eyes. He leaned closer temptingly, face barely a centimetre from the other as he asked, "Can you see me now? Can you gaze into my eyes… and see who I really am?"

"I… uh…" Break stuttered, barely able to produce any sounds. The blood rapidly left his brain, flowing into his genitals and causing his judgement to turn foggy.

 _This isn't right… this is very wrong… I'm not-_

Before his thoughts of denial even finished, Break caught one last glimpse of his face, giving into his desires and leaning up abruptly. He placed his lips onto Undertaker's eagerly, the other accepting his tongue in his mouth and pulling them into a deeper embrace.

Break parted his lips further, sinking his tongue into the other's mouth as they battled for control. Undertaker smirked inwardly, thrusting his tongue past the other's forcefully as they explored each other's mouths. Teasingly, he bit Break's lips, drawing blood and sucking intensely. Break flinched within his grip, but continued anyway, his pants noticeably tighter than they were before he came here.

As they continued, Undertaker manoeuvred his hand from his chin to behind his neck, scrunching it up in Break's hair and bringing the other closer. His other hand slipped underneath his shirt, fingers trailing across the seal on his trousers. His nails dug into Break's member harshly, his arousal only growing at the pain.

"Nhn… ghn…" Break moaned involuntarily, his eyes rolling back at the feeling as he pushed against the other's chest, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt.

"Enjoying this, are we~?" Undertaker teased, pulling away for a brief second before planting his lips onto Break's again and slipping his tongue back into his mouth.

Sucking on Undertaker's lower lip, Break grinned subtly, gliding a finger over his face and unbuttoning his shirt, brushing a hand over his toned abs. He let out a low chuckle, nodding against the other.

Grinning, Undertaker thrusted his hips firmly into Break's, alluring his arousal as they finally parted, gasping desperately for breath; a single strand of saliva connecting the two for a brief second. Break wiped his mouth, no longer questioning what he was doing.

Undertaker stood up, grabbing the other's wrist and pushing over the desk.

Immediately, Break's erection was pressed against by the table, the pressure forcing him to clench his teeth. "Haah… ngh… gah… t-that's-"

"Shhhh~" Undertaker shushed him, placing a finger over his lips as he pulled his belt away from his trousers, tying Break's wrists together and securing them to the opposite side of table, "The other students will wake up if you scream~ You wouldn't want them walking in on this, would you?"

Break shook his head slightly, gritting his teeth and swallowing down the discomfort. It was true; he wouldn't want _anyone_ to see him like this, bent over the desk like a whore with his hands tied down and a throbbing erection.

"That's good~" Undertaker continued, slipping a hand into Break's trousers, squeezing his member and receiving a low grunt from the other before making his way to the waistband, yanking his pants down and discarding them to the floor. He removed his own next, lathering his own erection in pre-cum as he teased Break, leaning over the other and grinding against him.

"Nhn… don't… tease me…" Break moaned strenuously, screwing his eyes shut, "Just… do it… nghn… now…"

"Eager, aren't we~" Undertaker chuckled, keeping one hand on his member as he placed the other on the table, bending over on top of Break and whispering directly in his ear, "Let's begin our game… now tell me… how much can you see?"

"I… nhn… I…" Break stuttered, barely able to form full words; let alone sentences. His arousal twitched as Undertaker tormented him, pressing his waist against his backside. "I… e-everything is blurry… and I… I can't recognise… even my friend's faces…"

"Ohh~ Interesting…" he murmured, positioning his member directly over Break's entrance, "That makes two of us then, hehe~"

"H-huh?" Break tried to look up, his neck stiff and voice hoarse.

"You see… people of my kind, we don't see things like you people do… that's why the other two wear glasses~"

Before Break could reply, Undertaker jerked his hips forwards, thrusting his member straight inside of Break without any warning.

Break involuntarily let out a strained, extremely loud moan, tears of pain and frustration brimming in his eyes as he gritted his teeth tightly. "Nhn… aah… i-it's… it hurts!"

"Shh… don't yell…" Undertaker purred, leaning over his back and pressing their bodies together, his hands flat on the table either side of Break, "You don't want them coming in here, do you…?"

As he continued panting; trying to adjust to the pain, Break shook his head ever so slightly.

After a few more seconds, he finally adapted to the pain inside of him, drawing in a deep breath as he told the other, "You can… nhn, you can m-move…"

"As you wish~" Undertaker accepted, swaying his hips back and forth inside of the other, smashing against him.

"Ahhn… gah…" Break groaned in euphoria, agonising pain shooting up his spine in violent waves, "Y-you… you're not human, are you…?"

"Correct~" Undertaker purred, sliding his tongue across the other's neck and sucking against the skin, feeling as the other squirmed and trembled underneath him. He thrusted inside of him once again, gripping onto Break's hair when his head shot up. "Now tell me… where are your family now?"

Break froze, swallowing down the lump in his throat and confessing, "They're… nhn… dead…"

"Oh really?" Undertaker questioned as he continued plunging inside of him, "And how did that happen?"

"They… I served a family… nhn… m-my red eye… I took out their daughter… and when I… ngh… returned…" Break chocked on his words, more tears brimming in his eyes, but not out of physical pain this time, "All of them… they'd been… k-killed… hn… it was my fault…"

Undertaker found himself slightly speechless, picking up the pace after he'd got over the initial shock of his story. He slammed inside him, Break's hips bucking up as he let out a cry of pleasure.

"AHANN… ah… haah… right t-there… nhn…" Break grunted, an alleviating tingling sensation travelling up his spine and making him shiver in please. Tears of satisfaction mixed in his eyes, falling down his burning cheeks and pooling on the table below him.

"It appears I've hit your pleasure spot~" Undertaker smirked seductively, making sure to keep the same angle, repeatedly thrusting into his prostate, earning wails of pleasure every other second.

Break's eyes were dazed, the crimson pupil blurred by tears. The voice at the back at his head told him this was wrong; what would Reim think if he came in, to see his best friend moaning like a horny teenage girl? But, the pleasure and euphoria was so desirable, and he didn't even care who saw this right now.

"Now tell me… what happened to that beautiful, blood red eye of yours~?" Undertaker asked, lowering his face to Break's and planting a soft kiss of the side of his head, seducing him further, "What sort of tragedy ended up with the loss of such an important part of you~?"

Immediately, at the mention of the one single event which plagued his sleep with nightmares most nights, Break froze, tears falling from his eyes; a strained sob escaping his throat.

"Don't get upset on me now~" Undertaker fake pouted, using a hand to wipe away the tears from his eyes, "Tell me what it is that troubles you so much… that you wake up screaming~?"

"I… the Intention of the Abyss…" Break chocked out, gritting his teeth forcibly and trying to hold back, "Nhn… s-she… she took it… she stole… my left eye…"

"And who is she?" Undertaker asked softly, "Who is the Intention of the Abyss?"

"S-she's…" Break stuttered, his breath catching in his throat, "The person… I owe my life to…"

"I see…" Undertaker murmured, smashing harder onto Break's prostrate, hoping the give him more pleasure than pain, "I want you to tell me one more thing, before I tell you my secret~"

"N-no more…" Break pleaded desperately, sniffling as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve. He groaned, fighting back the strange mix of emotions flooding him, "I… I don't want to think about it… a-and… I-I'm… I can't hold back… much longer…"

"Don't let go yet," Undertaker instructed, grinning and nuzzling his face into the other's neck, "Just tell me… why did you collapse today? What made you cough up blood?"

A single tear of desperation fell down his face, a shiver coursing through his veins as he gradually admitted, "I… the contract… it's destroying my body… I'm going to die… I'll be dead in a year… I… I don't want to die yet…"

"That's good… I bet you're feeling a lot better now, hm~"

"I… I can't… I'm going to… nhn…" Break moaned, "Ahhan… ngh… please…"

Undertaker leant forwards, placing a hand over Break's member and stroking, earning another tense grunt from the other. Seductively, he whispered, "Let go… release for me~"

Biting his lip hesitantly, Break let go slowly, and came all over the desk only a few seconds later, staining the wood with a white sticking substance. Grinning mischievously, Undertaker did the same, shooting his load inside of Break before finally pulling out, placing his limp member back into his trousers.

On the desk, Break continued to lay lifelessly, tears staining his cheeks and the desk; his eyes bloodshot and dazed. Shortly after redressing partially, Undertaker proceeded to the other side of the desk, unhooking the belt and setting Break free.

Shakily, and with the support of the desk, Break propped his elbows up, using them as assistance to stand up weakly. He smiled regretfully to himself, bringing a hand up to dry his eyes before pulling up his trousers, his shirt still partially unbuttoned. Uneasily, he lifted himself up onto the desk, fingers brushing over the wood. He flinched, extremely sore as he brought one leg up, resting his face upon his knee.

Realising his contract seal was still showing, Break lifted a shaky hand up to his shirt, covering his chest before doing up the buttons.

It felt so wrong; he felt so dirty. Giving in to those urges… he felt sick just thinking about it.

"This… isn't right…" Break sighed, a sad smile painting his lips as he faced the floor, "If someone finds out… I don't even want to think about it… if Reim found out, I…"

"If that's what you think…" Undertaker mentioned , chuckling lightly under his breath and approaching Break, standing in front of the other and planting his lips onto his.

Break just went along with it, too humiliated and drained to retaliate. Instead, he simply opened his mouth wider, allowing Undertaker to sink his tongue in softly.

A few moments later, however, Break pulled away, pushing the other back and muttering, "No more…"

"Humans really are fragile~" Undertaker hummed, running his fingers through Break's dishevelled hair, his skin glistening with a thin layer of sweat, "But, I suppose I already know that~"

"You were once human, weren't you?" Break asked quietly, "What are you?"

Undertaker grinned, turning his back to Break.

"Do you know anything about 'Grim Reapers'?"


	6. Chapter 6

_**(A/Ns: Aha... did you like my lemon last chapter? Hehe, I'm really not too keen on writing those tbh, so there won't be another for while. But anyway, here's ch 6! I wrote this so slowly, and I really ought to be finishing this fanfic by the 23rd April, but sadly, I know that won't be happening. So around that time, my writing will be hectic asf, so this might not get finished by then. I've 2 more chapters left of this, so we are coming to an end. This chapter was so fun to write, especially since drunk Oz is always hilarious. Also, the awkwardness of Reim and Breaks 'talk'.**_

 _ **Please review! I've still only one review, but there's a few people following this so i'd really love to know what you think! It means a lot ^-^**_

 _ **Content warnings: swearing, mentions of sex, some yaoi (ElliotxLeo) and a lot of drinking.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji, Pandora Hearts or any of the characters)**_

 **Chapter 6**

"Eh? Ciel? Is that you?"

Break stepped into his bedroom, his insides still sore as he flinched with each step, immediately noticing a mountain of sheets on what was previously Ciel's bed. The mound was shaking, soft but pained whimpers erupting from it every few seconds.

After listening to the distressed murmurs for a few more moments, it soon became obvious to Break what was happening. In all fairness, it was an experience he'd been through a lot.

"Ciel… calm down," Break whispered, wandering over to the other and lifting away one of the sheets, straight away discovering Ciel, curled up and shaking with his hands pressed to his ears.

"S-Sebastian…?" Ciel stuttered weakly, his bright blue eyes gazing up at Break. All of a sudden, he was snapped out of his trance, realising who it was in front of him, "Oh… I apologise. It's just… you."

"Oh~" Break chuckled, with slightly less enthusiasm than usual, "You seem disappointed that it's me~"

"N-no… I just…" Ciel muttered, "Sorry… Sebastian is the name of my, er… butler… back from my family home."

"I see…" Break said absentmindedly, staring off into the distance, "You saw things, right?"

"Er… I'm sorry?"

"There's no point denying it~" Break countered, "I know trauma when I see it~"

"Oh, well… it's just something which happened to me in my youth…" Ciel admitted regretfully, bringing a hand up to the white patch concealing his eye, "It's… why I keep this eye covered."

"Huh…" Break contemplated, standing up abruptly a second later and proceeding to his own bed, "Haah… I sure am tired~"

"Oh, yes. How did it go with Undertaker?" Ciel asked, half out of curiosity and half out of what could be described as concerned.

At the mention of the previous events, Break froze, guilt and shame clouding his mind as he shifted uncomfortably.

"It was… fine. I'd… rather not talk about it…"

…..

The next morning, Elliot, Leo, Break, Gilbert and Oz were all sitting in the normal room in their normal places, awaiting further instructions from Reim.

"The Headmaster has requested that you try to seek out as much information as possible; we leave in two days. He… doesn't want to be in control when exams begin in a couple of days," Reim explained, briefly scanning over the letter in his hand.

"Do you know what he's plotting?" Oz asked curiously, nudging Gilbert beside him and waking him up again, "It always seems so… suspicious."

Reim shot him an uneasy glance. "I don't know anything, I'm afraid… we haven't got as much information as we wanted, either."

"That's not true," Break interjected, "I know what Mr Michaelis and the other three are~"

Each and every person's gaze shifted to Break, the other student simply sitting idly and staring into space.

"How did you find that out?" Gilbert questioned, narrowing his eyes at him suspiciously.

"Shh~" Break hummed, holding a finger up to his lips secretively, "That's a secret."

"Well… what are they?!" Oz asked excitedly.

"Always so eager~" Break teased, "Mr Michaelis is a demon, apparently~"

"That's bullshit," Elliot scoffed, brushing Leo's hair away from his shoulder, "Demons don't exist."

"Don't be so narrow-minded," Leo scolded, leaning on Elliot provocatively and receiving a weak glare from the other, "If we told them what 'Chains' and the 'Abyss' were, they'd probably tell us we're insane."

"Why don't you ever side with me?" Elliot pouted, sulking.

"Leo has a good point," Reim interjected, "We can't ignore this. Xerx?"

"Yesss~?"

"What are the others?"

"Eh… they're 'Grim Reapers'," Break told him casually, "A messenger between man and God, as Mr Crevan put it. They collect people's souls, and can look into our life records. But… I'd imagine they'll have a fairllyyyy hard time finding mine."

"Probably most of us, actually," Reim added, his hand resting on his chin in thought, "If we've been in the Abyss, then our life records couldn't have been collected."

"So… they're not human…" Oz repeated to himself, "I guess that explains how Mr Michaelis was so good at everything."

"Are you informing the Headmaster?" Elliot asked.

"I will," Reim replied, "But, I can't imagine he'll take any action. If they aren't a threat to his 'experiments', then I guess there's nothing we can do. Anyway, is there anything else worth mentioning this morning?"

"Ooh!" Oz raised his hand after a minuet pause, "Charles is planning a party in the Sapphire Owl dorm in our room tonight. He says it's to celebrate our exams in a couple of days. I wasn't sure if that was okay, though…"

"Well… I can't see why it would be an issue," Reim considered, "We'll be gone by the exams. And if they're doing anything suspicious, which the Headmaster believes, then they'll have gone too."

"I know, but… there will almost certainly be alcohol… its Charles… he seems to have an endless supply of it."

"I trust you all not to do anything irresponsible," Reim said firmly, his gaze fixing on Break, "And that applies to you too, Xerx."

"What makes you think I'd do anything irresponsible~?" Break chuckled, as innocently as he possibly could manage.

"How could I possibly trust you to behave, given what happened yesterday?"

Break faced downwards immediately, his gaze directed at the floor as he shifted awkwardly. Whilst he knew that Reim was obviously referring to the sword fight, he couldn't help but feel as though the events with Undertaker were also being referenced.

"You are dismissed," Reim continued, ushering everyone out of the room, "Not you, Xerx. You're staying behind with me."

Sighing dramatically, Break dropped back into his seat, wincing involuntarily as his lower spine hit the wood.

"How did you get that information?" Reim asked again, folding his arms over intimidatingly and taking a step closer to Break, "Xerx, I'm not stupid; he wouldn't have just told you if you just so _happened_ to ask. And I know you wouldn't trade information, because you're not that stupid."

Break swallowed thickly, a shudder running through him. "You don't need to know. All you need to know is what I found out."

"Xerx," Reim repeated, his tone irritated, "I need to know, as your _friend._ Push me away all you want, but I'm not letting you leave until you tell me what you did to get that information."

"Stop being so nosey~"

"Xerx!" Reim yelled, "Sorry… but you're withholding information from me. I'm… concerned. When you walked in, when you sat down, when you move… you wince in pain. What on earth… did you do?"

Break bit his lip uneasily, turning away from Reim and avoiding eye contact. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes," Reim answered without hesitation, "I don't care what it is. I won't judge you."

"Well, I think you probably will," Break countered.

"What was it?"

"Well… um…" Break stuttered, struggling for words, before smug grin developed on his face, "Did you know, 'Lunettes'-"

"Yes, I know that 'Lunettes' means 'glasses' in French!" Reim snapped, "Now tell me what you did!"

Break pouted childishly, "No."

"Fine, if you're going to act like a child, then I'll treat you like one," Reim frowned, "Who told you everything?"

"… Mr Crevan," Break confessed, snickering to himself, "You won't be treating me like a child when I tell you~"

"What are you- oh wait…" Reim's eyes widened the second it hit him. "You don't mean… _eh?_ "

"Has Mr Reim figured it out yet?" Break asked submissively, tilting his head to his side.

"Well… I think so…" Reim responded, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, "I can't… imagine you doing something like that…"

"We're all adults~" Break hummed, lowering his head, "Even Reim must've had some desires at some point~"

"Xerx, that's inappropriate," Reim reprimanded, "I guess… if you really don't want to tell me anymore, then you don't have to."

"Good," Break stood up, flinching as he did so and holding onto the chair. "It's done now. It was wrong, but…"

Reim continued uneasily, "You enjoyed it, didn't you?"

"Eh," Break shrugged, "Certain aspects of it."

"I see… well, you can go now."

Break nodded briefly, hurrying from the room and away from Reim's glare, which was slightly less fierce than normal and more concerned.

Just as Break disappeared from the room and his shadow dissipated from the adjacent wall, Reim let out a deep sigh, hanging his head and placing a hand over his eyes shamefully. "Xerx… sometimes, I just… really don't understand you…"

…

"So, Charles…" Oz started, helping the other to move around some of the things in their room and set out the drinks, "Are you sure this'll be enough space for everyone?"

"Should be," Charles answered, pulling out a crate of drinks from his bag, "It's only 8 people."

At the sight of the large quantity of alcohol, Oz's eyes widened. "Wow… how did you get so much?"

"Eh, I have ways," Charles shrugged, grinning to himself discreetly, "We'll get through this, definitely. It takes a lot to get me drunk."

"Ah? You and Break really are similar…"

"Really…?" Charles smirked.

"Mhm…" Oz nodded, "Oh! I just remembered! Mr Michaelis said he wanted to speak to you around now-ish. He said it wouldn't be too long."

"Fine," Charles sighed, lining a few more bottles up on the window sill before heading out of the room, being sure to shut the door behind him.

Once he was about half way down the corridor, two voices quickly made their way into his hearing range, Ciel and Break turning the corner a second later.

"Oh, Ciel," Charles greeted, "And Break, huh… I'll be back in a second, I've just got to go see our dorm warden first. Oz is waiting in the room already."

"Thank you," Ciel replied politely, his eye connecting directly with Charles' for a brief moment, sending a clear and obvious message to the other, "We'll see you in short time then."

Charles nodded, drifting past the two and knocking on Sebastian's door, letting himself in rudely and slamming the door behind him.

"Hello," he greeted, leaning against the door arrogantly, donning his usual modest smirk with the sword attached to his waist, "You called me here?"

"That's certainly not the appropriate way for someone of your status to present yourself," Sebastian commented slyly, "But nevertheless, it's late; I'll make this quick."

"Good," Charles interjected, "I've got people waiting on me, you know."

"And whatever do you mean by that?" Sebastian interrogated suspiciously, pretending that he didn't already know, "What exactly are you plotting?"

"Nothing 'suspicious', jeez…" Charles muttered, throwing his arms up defensively, "Don't glare at me like I've killed someone. Oz and I just organised a little party to prepare for the exams in a few days, that's all."

"Hm… it's almost as irresponsible as what you did yesterday…" Sebastian considered, "Oh well, there's no reason to fret. Anyway, as I was saying previously, exams begin in a few days, so I'd appreciate it if we could wrap this up quickly. As you have discovered, these prefects have almost certainly come from the same place, which therefore leads me to believe that they are most likely plotting something as well. If that is the case, then they'll also wish to accomplish their goals by then. This means that you need to find out what is causing all of these deaths, and _efficiently._ "

"Don't worry," Charles groaned, "I've got a plan."

"Please do not make it something stupid."

"It's not _that_ stupid…" Charles replied sarcastically, "Look, last time I got Oz drunk, I managed to find out that they were all working together, did I not?"

"I suppose you're right," Sebastian agreed, "Alright then, do as you wish."

"Thank you, _sir_ ," he chuckled, turning on his heel to leave the room.

However, right before the door opened, Sebastian stopped him, narrowing his eyes at him; a strand of black hair dropping over his face as he smirked defiantly.

"Remember, Charles Grey; both my master and your own master are counting on you to solve this."

…..

Meanwhile, whilst Charles was away, the rest had arrived at their dorm, sneaking into Oz's room secretly.

"Gil!" Oz cheered, his glass being thrown up as the liquid swished around hazardously, a faint blush painted on his cheeks, "You came!"

"Uh… I think you should slow down, Oz…" Gilbert recommended, trying to discreetly remove the glass from Oz's grip.

"Noooo!" Oz whined, shoving a glass in Gilbert's face, "Have some too!"

Gilbert sighed, lowering his voice, "You know I'm really bad at holding my liquor…"

"Oh well!" Oz dismissed.

Across from them, an awkward silence lingered amongst Alois, Ciel, Leo and Elliot, the four all standing with a glass of red wine in a circle besides the window.

"So," Alois started, striking up a conversation. He glanced across their mini circle, eyes narrowing at Elliot and Leo as grinned. "You two… what exactly are you to each other?"

Ciel groaned inwardly, nudging Alois subtly on the elbow. "Alois… what are you doing?"

Alois shot a sidelong glance at Ciel, remembering the discussion he'd had with Grell only a few hours ago.

….

 _"_ _Why did you summon me here?" Alois sighed moodily, his bottom lip protruding as he sat down, crossing his legs and arms over arrogantly._

 _"_ _Don't give me that kind of attitude, now," Grell scolded, brushing through his hair with his red painted fingernails, "Ronnie told me something rather interesting, you know."_

 _"_ _And what exactly do I have to do with it?" Alois questioned._

 _"_ _Bassy dear told me that he heard Oz and Charles planning a party-"_

 _"_ _How the hell did he know?!" Alois interjected, "We were keeping it a secret!"_

 _"_ _Don't worry, I'm sure he won't let Charles know that he knows," Grell responded, waving a hand dismissively, "After all… only you and I know Bassy's true form…"_

 _"_ _Hmph," Alois grunted, "Fine. What do you want me to do?"_

 _"_ _I want you to find out what Elliot and Leo are to each other," Grell proposed, "Ronnie told me they were being awfully close the other day. I believe you little… brat, would surely be able to get the truth."_

 _"_ _Leave it to me," Alois grinned, "But just out of interest, why do you want to know? This information is useless to the investigation, as I see it."_

 _Grell exhaled blissfully, his eyes glinting in the light of the candle, "This may be young love blooming… it's a wonderful thing, but… something will surely go wrong for them."_

 _"_ _And how exactly do you know that?"_

 _"_ _Fufu…" Grell laughed, "You see, Alois… the other day, me and Ronnie took at little peak at that Elliot's cinematic record… and I have to say…" his tone shifted sinisterly, "…It's not looking pretty for them…"_

 _…_

"Relax, I'm not doing anything suspicious," Alois claimed, scanning the other two up and down, before another sly smile twitched at his lips, "I'm just saying, the two of you stand strangely close… intimate, I could say. Plus, when Charles and Break has that little game yesterday, don't think I didn't notice how close your position was."

Elliot and Leo's faces both flushed, with Elliot's reaction more obvious without the coverage from the glasses.

Alois continued, taking another sip of the drink beforehand, "So… what are you? Acquaintances… friends… friends _with benefits…_ perhaps even, lovers…?"

"W-what?!" Elliot yelled, blushing involuntarily as his grip around the glass tightened, "What the hell do you think you're saying?!"

"The fact that you're getting so defensive is only proving my point further," Alois mentioned, "Heh… Leo, what's your input?"

"Er…" Leo stuttered, before smiling falsely, "Please excuse my master's behaviour. There's… uh, nothing weird going on…"

"Leo! What are you doing?!" Elliot shouted at his valet, clenching his teeth, "You're supposed to be denying it for me!"

"No need to get so defensive," Leo teased.

Elliot frowned, glancing down at his valet before plucking the drink from his hand, "That's enough of that for you. We're leaving."

Ciel and Alois watched as Elliot grabbed Leo's wrist, escorting him away to the other side of the room and, unfortunately – due to Oz and Gilbert being in the way – out of their sight.

"There's definitely something going on between those two," Alois declared, receiving a quizzical look from Ciel in response, "Oh well… looks like my job is done."

In the meantime, Charles had finally worked up the courage to approach Break, and speak to him one on one for the first time since their match yesterday.

"So, er…" Charles started uneasily, scratching the back of his head awkwardly as he approached Break, who was currently staring idly out of the window, a glass of whiskey in his left hand, "Congrats on your win yesterday. It was impressive."

"Haha…" Break chuckled lightly, turning around to face the other and taking another sip of the whiskey, the vile taste creating a pleasant burning sensation in his throat, "It seems as though someone's a bad loser~"

"Hmph," Charles pouted sulkily, "Seems like someone's had a bit too much to drink already."

Break let out a derisive snort, his eye trailing down to the glass he was holding. "As if I'd ever get drunk on something like this."

"Oh yeh?" Charles grinned, "You know, I happen to be one quite capable of holding my liquor, you know. I've a good reputation."

"I see…" Break muttered, smirking at the other confidently, "Are you trying to propose another competition which you _won't_ completely fail at?"

"Call me a failure, but you're the one who's been walking funny all day."

Immediately, Break's face dropped. "That's something else entirely. I'm not talking about it."

"Whatever. It's your misery," Charles brushed it off, gesturing over to the drinks, "Shall we begin?"

"Alright," Break replied after a brief moment of consideration, "We need to get everyone else's attention first~"

A few minutes later, everyone was in on it, for all of them were slightly tipsy anyway; except for Ciel, that was, who simply shook his head, sighed, and conformed reluctantly.

"How are we doing this?" Charles asked, briefly glancing over the drinks table.

"Ooh!" Oz perked up, raising a hand excitedly and accidently spilling Gil's drink in the process, "How about the person who gets through the most drinks within the next hour?"

"Oz…" Gil warned.

"Its _fine,_ " Oz sighed, "If you do anything like who can drink the quickest, then it doesn't really test tolerance."

Gilbert shot him a questioning look. "How the hell do you know so much about this?"

"Oscar," Oz stated simply, watching eagerly as Break and Charles poured their first drinks, checking the time.

"Alright, beginning from now, Oz keeps a record of my drinks, and Ciel keeps a record of yours," Charles decided, "Alright?"

"I don't think that's a good idea…" Gilbert objected unsurely.

"Don't be such a buzzkill, Gilll~" Break hummed, throwing a piece of paper and a pen at Ciel, the other simply catching them swiftly with a confused expression spread across his face.

"No, it's not that," Gil opposed, pointing down at the currently swaying Oz, "He's already drunk. He won't do it right."

"That's a good point…" Charles realised, snapping his fingers at the other blonde, "Alois. You count for me."

"With pleasure," Alois grinned devilishly.

"You ready?" Charles asked, the anticipation in the room gradually increasing.

"When am I not?" Break replied eagerly.

"Alright. We begin now."

…..

"When does the hour end?" Ciel whispered, leaning over to Alois with the pen resting readily on his paper, "I'm running out of space on the page..."

"Eh…" Alois shrugged, swaying slightly as he glanced up to the clock, "About 2 minutes."

"Good…" Ciel sighed in relief, "This really is impressive. I mean, Charles drank _a lot_ when he came over to _that_ gathering of mine, but… this is incredible."

"I'm not looking forward to tomorrow," Alois groaned, pouring another glass of some sort of wine (he'd lost track of what he was drinking at this point), "Everyone's going to have a hangover, and we're their slaves…"

"At least your roommate _isn't_ getting completely intoxicated…" Ciel muttered under his breath.

"I wish Claude was here," Alois added, fiddling with the loose thread on the hem of his blazer, "Then I'd just get him to do everything for me."

"I thought you were glad because you were getting a break from Claude?"

"What are you talking about? I love my Claude!"

"Um…" Ciel stuttered, changing the subject, "Hasn't it been an hour now?"

"Oh yes," Alois replied, wandering into the middle of the circle and flicking both Break and Charles on the side of the head, "Time's up. Put your drinks down."

"Ugh… I'm glad that's over…" Break groaned, leaning onto the side of the chair for support and clutching his head, a faint smile still stretched across his lips, "I wouldn't be surprised if I lost that."

"Ahh?" Charles slurred, feigning soberness as he slammed down his current glass, "Oh… I hope you counted that one."

"Yes. I did," Alois answered bitterly, scanning the room for Elliot and Leo.

The moment he spotted them, he couldn't hold back as a smirk quickly developed on his face.

The two were secluded in the corner, Elliot pushing Leo's back against the wall as their tongues were shoved down each other's throats. One of Leo's hands had sneaked up into Elliot's hair; their body's pressed together intimately.

Sarcastically, Alois yelled across the room at the pair, "Hey! Fuck-buddies! Stop fondling over each other and get over here to hear who won!"

Immediately, Elliot felt himself sober up, his head jerking round; his gaze on the other fierce and threatened.

Alois – who was completely unfazed by the burning glare – only continued, "Come on, we all know you're in denial."

"You…!" Elliot growled, trying to use his hair to cover his blush as he pulled Leo away, the noirette only worsening the situation by wrapping his arms affectionately around Elliot's waist as the two moved to the middle of the room.

Fortunately, for their sake, it seemed as though everyone was too drunk to notice.

"Who won?" Charles asked eagerly, poking Alois' arm repetitively.

"Get off me," Alois hissed at him harshly pulling away and counting through the drinks listed. He approached Ciel, whispering the total into his hear before comparing the results and coming to a conclusion. "Alright. Who wants to know the winner?"

"MEEE!" Oz threw his hand up, jumping around excitedly.

"The winner is…" Alois teased, deliberately building up the virtually non-existent tension, "Charles Grey!"

"Yes!" Charles celebrated triumphantly, throwing his arms up into the air, "I knew I would win something!"

"Well done," Break congratulated, minus his usual enthusiasm, "Right then, looks like it's about time for some of us to leave~"

"Nooo! Stay!" Oz begged, shoving another drink towards Break, "It's only just passed midnight! You can't leave yet!"

"I see…" Break murmured, grinning slyly and ruffling a hand in Oz's hair, "Kids will be kids, after all. I'll stay. But when I've got a massive hangover tomorrow, _you'll_ be the one taking care of me~"


	7. Chapter 7

_**(A/Ns: This chapter took me ridiculously long. I do not know why. I just wrote incredibly slowly. So, this is the penultimate chapter, and if you've read the public school arc of black butler, you might be able to take a pretty decent guess at what happens in the last chapter. I can't promise the next chapter will be quick, because my exams start next week. And yes, I start practising my descriptive writing here. It's in my exam; it counts as revision ok :3 Anyway, this chapter is a bit mixed up, but it all leads to the last chapter where all shall be revealed! Finally, the bit in italic is a flashback, because I just had to include William. Oh, and just to clarify, the mock exams they do in this chapter aren't their actual exams. Trust me, I haven't forgotten my own plot; it's all written down in my sacred FF notebook!**_

 _ **Please review! Thank you so much to the person who reviewed twice (sort of :p) you know who you are! Seriously, it really motivates me, especially to hear that you're enjoying it. And I apologise about the things which bother you *sigh* if only I could read minds...**_

 _ **Content warnings: mild swearing, major spoilers for Pandora Hearts manga, references to drinking, vomiting (for any emetophobics) and hinted ElliotxLeo yaoi**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji, Pandora Hearts or any of the characters)**_

 **Chapter 7**

"Ugh… last night was the worst idea _ever_ …" Oz groaned, his hand moving up sluggishly to support his throbbing head, "How much did we even drink?"

"Too much…" Gilbert replied as he drug his fingers through his hair, "Whose idea was it?"

Charles raised his hand slowly, leaning on the gazebo behind Oz.

Gilbert sighed, glancing around the surrounding area at the 7 living corpses. On the opposite side of the gazebo, Ciel and Alois were both leaning precariously against one of the pillars, their faces grim and fitting in well with the dismal atmosphere. The two had given up with their fag duties for that current moment in time, abandoning the prefects in favour of trying not to collapse. Charles was also with them on that one, but had at least opted for one of the pillars behind Oz, internally wishing he'd be able to sit down.

On the sofa in from of him, Oz and Gilbert were both slumped beside each other, a text book lying over Oz's face and another on the floor. Across from them, Elliot and Leo were both leaning against each other's shoulders, ignoring the occasional suspicious or judgemental glance from the rest of the group. Finally, diagonal to them, Break was perched on his normal chair, his body stretched out exhaustedly with his legs dangling freely over the adjacent arm, a hand resting lightly over his stomach.

"You do realise the two of you basically admitted you were in a secret relationship last night, right?" Alois teased; minus the usual enthusiasm, of course. He shot a sidelong glance to Elliot, who whipped around to face him hastily.

"Huh?! What the hell are you saying?!" Elliot yelled in outrage, flinching slightly as his headache worsened, "How can you be so patronising when you're so hungover anyway?"

"Oh please, I threw it all up this morning…" Alois muttered, "Besides, patronising people is one of my many talents."

"You mean one of your _few_ talents," Ciel corrected nonchalantly, and if he'd retorted with slightly more enthusiasm, it would've been a pretty good comeback, "But Alois has got a point, for once I must confess."

"Shut up!" Elliot shouted, his headache practically screaming at him stop being so aggressive as it throbbed painfully again, "Ouch… I can't even be arsed with this."

"Well, let's face it Elliot," Leo started dully, "They're not stupid, so is there really any point in hiding it?"

"Shut up Leo," Elliot repeated, with slightly less volume than last time. He felt his face redden slightly, Leo giving him a reassuring glance before he drew in a deep breath, "Fine… whatever. Call it whatever you want. I'm not denying it."

"Fuck buddies? Friends with benefits? Lovers? Boyfriends? Bum buddies? There's a whole list of things I could run through, so leaving it as an ambiguous decision probably isn't the best idea," Alois smirked devilishly, "Just pick a label, or I'm doing it for you."

"Go with lovers; that's the best one," Leo decided from beside Elliot, bringing his legs up to his chest and resting his arms on his knees.

"Huh?!" Elliot yelped, flinching violently away from Leo and glaring at the other, mentally begging for his blush to just _go away_ , "What the hell? 'Lovers' implies we're screwing!"

"Well…" Leo countered, his expression stoic as always, "Technically-"

Elliot slammed a hand over Leo's mouth, silencing him abruptly and gritting his teeth. "They don't need to know anymore, Leo."

The blonde felt as Leo pouted within his hand, his body sinking back against his shoulder as they resumed their previous position, knowing full well they had nothing to hide anymore.

The area fell into silence again, everyone feeling too dead inside to continue speaking.

"What's with this zombie apocalypse vibe, jeez…" Charles spoke over the silence, "I get you're all hungover but seriously, you could've put in a little bit of effort."

"Eh? You drank more than all of us," Oz commented drearily, pulling the textbook off his face and discarding it to the floor, "You weren't sick this morning either. I don't get it."

"It's easy," Charles told him, "I've just got a really high alcohol tolerance. It's called practice. But trust me, in some ways, I'd wish I could get it out of me."

"Seconded," Break groaned, his eyes still resting shut, "I don't think I've ever drank so much in my life~"

"Aren't the two of you still adolescents though?" Ciel questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh please," Charles laughed lightly, "No one can control me."

"Once again, I agree~" Break hummed, "But last night, I regret."

"Have any of you done your final mock exams yet today?" Ciel asked, trying to keep the conversation consistent, "I know ours went badly."

"I slept through it," Break announced, almost proudly, "I couldn't think of anything to write."

"We had ours," Gilbert added, "I probably could've done a bit better, but I suppose it's only the mocks so the grades aren't recorded, thankfully."

"Haha, mine was brilliant," Alois chuckled, "I wrote the entire essay on how shit the poem was."

Gil glanced upwards, staring judgementally at the other. "Why?" he deadpanned, "I told you _not_ to do that."

"I know, but the question was 'How does the poet present the theme of power in this poem?', so I just listed all the reasons why it didn't."

"…"

"You're going to fail so miserably," Charles mocked.

"As if I care," Alois scoffed, "I've got money."

"Of course you do," Gilbert responded bitterly, "We all do. Otherwise we wouldn't be here."

"That's not the point!" Oz intervened, "Argh… we have our mock exam after this."

"Which one is it?" Charles asked, running a hand through his hair and leaning over into his bag, "I'll see if I can memorise anything last minute."

"It's science," Oz groaned as he dug the palms of his hands into his eye sockets, "Mainly the calculations."

"Screw that," Charles muttered, chucking the book comically onto the ground and folding his arms over again, "I'm too hungover to read."

Once again, the gazebo collapsed into a thick silence, no one really making an effort to speak. Charles dropped onto the floor, folding his legs over in front of him after finally deciding he couldn't be bothered to stand for any longer. Along with him, Alois also chose to sat, squatting in favour of keeping his pristine white uniform the same colour. Ciel remained standing up, keeping some sort of dignity despite knowing no one was really paying any attention.

Meanwhile, in front of him, Elliot and Leo had both fallen asleep, their heads lulling onto one another's shoulders as they effectively passed out. No one there quite knew how much the two of them had drunk last night, but for some reason it seemed as though the alcohol might not have been the only thing which stole their energy.

Break sat up slightly, crossing over his legs and shifting; an unsatisfied and uncomfortable expression spread across his face. He spoke up, "Ciel. Tea~?"

Internally, Ciel groaned. "Yes, of course," he responded plainly, wandering over to the tea tray and preparing it, "Are you sure you're okay to drink it?"

"Eh, I'm thirsty," Break shrugged, "I haven't eaten or drunk anything since last night, after all~"

"Whatever you say…" Ciel accepted reluctantly, continuing to do as he'd been ordered.

"How much longer before we have to go back?" Gilbert asked, facing Alois expectantly.

Alois frowned, pathetically lifting his wrist and reading his watch. "About 5 minutes."

"Alright, I'm off," Gil announced, standing up and picking up his bag, swaying a bit and leaning on the sofa for support. He blinked a few times, before successfully regaining his balance and proceeding to leave.

"I'm not supposed to follow?" Alois called over to him, grinning on the inside to himself.

"No."

"Well that was just mean…" Alois pouted, tilting his head back against the pillar.

Ciel finished preparing Break's shortly after, handing it to other cautiously and bowing discreetly as he was supposed to, before stepping back and resuming his duty. A few moments later, however, Break leaned forward, placing the still almost full tea cup back on to table and leaning back against the chair.

"Ugh," he grunted, holding a hand up to partially cover his mouth, "At least I know it's not blood this time… if you'll excuse me."

Abruptly, Break stood up, his hand sliding away from the arm of the chair as he hurried off towards the adjacent building.

Charles snorted derisively, watching as Break sped up before disappearing around the corner with a hand over his stomach. "I think this officially declares me as the strongest drinker out of everyone."

"I'm not competing again," Alois murmured from the floor, grimacing, "I guess Gilbert gets to watch that guy puking now."

"Should one of us help him?" Ciel proposed, not quite sure he was up for the job himself.

"He doesn't like people helping him," Oz countered, shooting Ciel an uneasy glance, "It's weird, really… the moment you offer him help, it's like he doesn't need anyone else. But then, he treats other as though they do. It's… contradictory behaviour, really. I find Break really strange, sometimes."

"Hmph, don't we all," Elliot mumbled, his eyes still closed shut.

"Oh, you're awake," Alois chuckled, "I thought you and that Leo kid were sleeping together."

Elliot glared threateningly at the other, disregarding his comment. "I'm not that hungover. It's Leo who's the light weight. His shitty ass stomach caused him to pass out like 5 times this morning."

"And I'm guessing his 'knight in shining armour' came to save him?"

"Huh? No! I left him lying on the floor the last couple of times."

"Oh, aren't you nice."

Meanwhile, around the corner of the building, Gilbert had just been taking drag of the freshly lit cigarette when Break came sprinting around the corner.

However, before he could even ask any more questions, Break leant over the bushes cutting off the small pathway, retching over them as he emptied the contents of his stomach, which was – admittedly – just acid and bile.

Instead of helping, Gilbert simply stood there, kicking his leg back and leaning against the wall, continuing to smoke his cigarette absentmindedly.

"Well this is a sight I never thought I'd ever see."

Gilbert turned around at the voice immediately, spotting Reim turning the corner to where they stood.

"I'm with you on that one," Gilbert confided, "It's impressive though."

"And stupid," Reim deadpanned, "Why did he even drink that much? I know Oz mentioned that there would be alcohol, but I thought he'd apply at least a touch of self -restraint."

"He and Charles found another thing to compete with…" Gilbert exhaled, taking one last drag from the cigarette before dropping it onto the floor, snuffing it out with the heel of his shoe, "They wanted to see who had the highest alcohol tolerance."

"Huh, I see… poor Charles."

"No. Charles won."

Wordlessly, Reim shot Gilbert the most perplexed look ever, his eyes so concentrated; almost as if he were contemplating his entire life. "That can't be true if Charles was 17 like he said…"

"Then he probably isn't," Gilbert commented, "I think the bell goes in a moment, I should get back to the gazebo."

"Wait, I need to talk to you and Xerx about something quickly," Reim held him back, lifting his hand; a white envelope folded and held between two fingers, "I'll just wait until Xerx finishes his…. business."

Only a few seconds later, Break eventually finished, dry heaving once more before staggering backwards against the wall, his back colliding heavily with bricks as he panted. He raised a hand, wiping his mouth the sleeve of his wrist. Eyes squinting down at the bushes, Break asked quizzically, "There's no blood in that, right?"

"No, just acid," Reim grimaced, "What on earth were you thinking last night?"

"I hate to break it to you, Reim, but it was my understanding that the only person I could beat in the way of drinking was you," Break answered, chuckling casually, "Fufu… apparently, I was very wrong."

"Whatever," Reim dismissed, rolling his eyes, "I don't want to keep telling you off; especially when this entire ordeal ends tonight."

Break and Gilbert both froze, Gilbert being the first to react. He sighed, shoulders dropping in relief. "Thank god that's over. How do you know, though?"

"The Headmaster said he'd send a letter when the time came," Reim explained, "It's an invitation to Ciel, Alois and Charles to attend the Midnight Tea Party tonight."

"Do you know what will happen?" Gilbert asked uneasily.

Reim shook his head regretfully. "I'm afraid not, no."

"I see…" Break hummed, smirking, "Well that guy is good at scheming, after all. I'm sure something interest will happen~"

"If something does happen, please just… fight normally?" Reim pleaded, "I'd rather not have to carry you back to the carriage and then haul you whilst passed out through Pandora. Sharon will be worried, and I'll end up having to take responsibility."

"Haah… asking me to do something 'normally' is like asking me to stop breathing," Break chuckled, "But I promise I won't do anything else stupid~"

"You said that the first time," Reim sighed, holding the envelope out to Gilbert. Hesitantly, the raven took it, scanning over the invitation briefly. "I have to get back now. I've been summoned. Please make sure you're waiting there at midnight, if possible beforehand. And remember to look presentable."

"Ugh, that means putting in effort~" Break pouted, "That's really not one of my strong points, you know, Reim~"

"Just please wear something suitable. It's the Headmaster's request."

"Fine."

"I will be off now then," Reim said, turning on his heel swiftly and wandering away, "Remember to give that to the others."

"You ready?" Gilbert asked, watching as the other swayed slightly against the wall, his face pale – well, paler than usual at least, "You not gonna die?"

"Oh please," Break snorted, steadying himself on two feet and wandering away from Gilbert, "I'm not ready to die quite yet, so don't think you can get away from me so easily. Although, I must say, in my current condition, death seems slightly preferable over this eternal suffering also known as a hangover."

"Okay then…" Gilbert muttered, following him out from behind the building and back to the gazebo.

"You're back," Oz acknowledged grimly, the school bell interrupting him mid-sentence, "Haah… never mind."

"Yeh, but before you go, I need to give something to you guys quick. Mr Lunettes just visited me," Gil announced, lifting his hand and holding up a thick piece of paper, grabbing the attention of Ciel, Alois and Charles.

"Come on Gil, just get straight to the point~" Break mocked, plucking the invitation and passing it to Ciel, glancing down at him with a devilish smile, "How would you and your friends like to pay us a visit at the Midnight Tea Party tonight?"

Ciel's eyes widened instantly, the blurred image of Alois smirking discreetly making its way into the corner of his vision. Soon after, a sly grin twitched across his own lips, as he accepted courteously, "We'd be honoured."

….

"Well then, it looks like they're all set."

Sebastian gazed out into the night, the stars shining bright in contrast to the pitch black sky in the background. The moon was full, beaming brightly and illuminating the small garden beneath where the 4 of them stood on the top of the chapel a safe distance away.

Inside this garden, there was a long table, four brick walls decorated with overgrown ivy topping it off, the only entrance being a rusty black gate. Along the edges of the table, there were several chairs, exactly opposite each other and each accessorised with a tea cup and plate. Candles were lit along the centre of the table in a dead straight row, despite not being necessary.

At the end of the table, there was a slightly larger chair – almost like a throne – with several jewels donning the arms. In it sat an unrecognisable silhouette, the five chairs around it occupied by Gilbert, Oz, Break, Elliot and Leo. The group's chatter was idle; their voices unfortunately too far away to hear clearly.

Both Leo and Elliot wore the same clothes, except with a purple ribbon added to Leo's collar. Oz had worn his signature formal attire, the dress shorts falling just beneath the long velvet blazer. Similarly, Gilbert had stuck with the same black suite he always picked out when formality was a necessity, a cigarette dangling between his fingers; burning away and drifting up into the night sky, as he laid back in his chair. Lastly, Break had clipped his hair back, discarding the violet cloak in favour of his usual suite, his sword tucked neatly away beneath the clothing.

"So, er… why're we here again?" Ronald asked, leaning on his death scythe – the lawnmower – and readjusting his glasses, "That don't seem too suspicious…"

"Oh Ronnie, do you not remember our little trip earlier~?" Grell purred, faking offense.

"Well, yeh, bu-"

"What is your meaning?" Sebastian interjected, thinning his crimson red eyes at the pair distrustfully, "What have the two of you been up to?"

"Oh don't be so uptight, Bassy~" Grell chuckled, fiddling with a strand of hair between two fingers, "Ronnie and I only took a quick glance at some of their cinematic records, mhmm~"

"How innovative…" Sebastian muttered to himself, "What did you find out?"

"Ohhh! Where to _start_ ~!" Grell beamed, "Well my dear Bassy, firstly, that Elliot has had the most dreary life of them all, hauled up in an aristocracy. There's been one or two strange incidents with himself and that Leo boy, but nothing out of the ordinary. Oh, and speaking of Leo, his life I just so tragic. Alone and abandoned when he was 12, poor boy!"

"Grell, calm down," Ronald hushed, face palming and shaking his head at Sebastian, "Anyway, tha' Gilbert, yeh, well his was weird. There's a massive gap… and then some other records from a hundred years ago or somethin' like tha'. There's also some brother called 'Vincent', but, it was kinda weird…"

"I see… what about Oz? I know Undertaker mentioned he couldn't find Break, but-"

"I found him."

Grell, Ronald and Sebastian's head all whipped around to face Undertaker, the silver haired reaper having distanced himself from the rest of the group. He stood bang in the middle of the roof, balancing perfectly; his eyes fixed dedicatedly on the distance.

"And how exactly did you manage that?" Sebastian interrogated, "Has this something to do with your 'method' you told me of recently?"

"Hehe~" Undertaker chuckled, a smirk stretching at his lips with his back still turned, "Something along those lines~"

…..

 _"_ _What do you think you are doing here? You certainly do have a lot of nerve to dare setting foot in here."_

 _"_ _Hehe, you're just as uptight as I remember you, Mr William T. Spears~" Undertaker mocked, wandering casually past the other and making his way to the large double doors. He placed a hand on the handle, turning around to face the other reaper once again and grinning, "I came here a little while ago to do some research on a certain individual, you see~"_

 _"_ _Oh, really?" William frowned, raising a hand and pushing his glasses further up his face, "Despite your reasoning, however valid, deserters are not allowed to set foot in the Grim Reaper Library of Cinematic Records. I'm afraid I am going to have to ask you to leave."_

 _"_ _I'm sure you'd be willing to make an exception."_

 _"_ _I'm afraid I cannot do that."_

 _"_ _The quicker you tell me what I want to know, the quicker I'll get out of here~" Undertaker bargained._

 _William scowled harshly, opening the book which was previously tucked underneath his arm and flicking through the pages to the contents. "Fine. What do you want to know?"_

 _"_ _I'm looking for someone who goes by the name of 'Xerxes Break.' I already checked that name, you see, but he wasn't there. I was hoping you'd tell me something more~"_

 _"_ _And what makes you think that I know any more than you?"_

 _"_ _It's my understanding that he is part of a contract, but not one to a demon of sorts. No, this is something else, and I have the strongest feeling that it has something to do with his dead family."_

 _William shifted uncomfortably, closing the book and replacing it to the crook of his elbow. "There are many cases where there are gaps of the human's cinematic record, or where their soul had mysteriously disappeared after making a contract with something inhuman, which is still unidentifiable to us. It is most troublesome when it does occur; so much paperwork and overtime. The forensics department did look into it, but… they did not uncover anything."_

 _"_ _I see… and out of those people, do any of them mention someone called the 'Intention of the Abyss' frequently in their human lives?"_

 _"_ _There is… one person," William answered reluctantly, leading Undertaker across the room, approaching one of the shelves and browsing through the names, before finally reaching someone named 'Kevin Legnard', and pulling their book from the shelf, "This person has caused the Grim Reaper Dispatch Association nothing but trouble, if I'm honest. A little while ago, they returned from nowhere, after having 'died' a long time. The investigation, was dropped, however, if you look through it, there is a lot about the deity you mentioned."_

 _Undertaker paused for a moment, before turning his back to William, leaving the other alone with the book still open in his hand. "Thank you, William. That information was indeed useful, hehe~"_

 _…_ _._

"Ohhh, how I miss Will~" Grell sulked, collapsing dramatically onto Ronald's shoulder, "I can't believe you saw him and we didn't!"

"Er… wouldn't he jus' be mad tha' we bunked off for so long?" Ronald pointed out.

"Hmph," Grell pouted, "Whatever."

"Did you find anything about Oz?" Sebastian asked, redirecting his gaze to Grell and Ronald.

"We found him, but it was very strange. Far too confusing for me~" Grell explained.

"Really?" Sebastian cocked an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Oh I don't know. All the dates and times just kept jumping around and changing. It was such a headache, so we just gave up in the end."

"Hm… alright," Sebastian murmured dissatisfiedly in response, his ear perking up at the sound of footsteps, "Ahh… the clock has struck midnight, and Ciel, Alois and Charles are arriving. So, be alert. From here on out… anything could happen."

….

"Welcome~" Break greeted, standing up and holding a hand out to Ciel, directing the three over to the table, "Please, take a seat. Be our guests~"

"Thank you," Ciel replied courteously, internally taking in his surroundings, the memories from the previous incidents at that location resurfacing, sending a subtle shiver down his spine, "If I may ask, why have you invited us here? As other students have mentioned to me, it is a true privilege to be invited to this."

"It is," Elliot dead panned, "Now sit down and be quiet."

"Elliot, no need to be so rude," Leo whispered harshly, turning around to smile friendlily across the table at Alois and Charles.

"Yeh! Even we don't _really_ know what this is about. Don't be so mean!" Oz scolded, folding his arms over stubbornly.

"Please, stop arguing."

Ciel, Alois and Charles all rotated their heads simultaneously, their view locking on the figure at the end of the table.

Slowly, they stood up, the beige hood previously covering their face unveiling; once and for all revealing his face.

At first, he remained silent, grey eyes narrowing suspiciously at the three fags. Meanwhile, the three he was staring at were all scanning him up and down; for he had long, straight – with curled ends – red hair, the tips making contact with his waist. His attire was overly formal, gold and other fabrics hanging decoratively from his faded cream robe.

"Alright, enough with this silence," Charles interjected, his eyes locking directly on the Headmaster, who still remained anonymous, "Who are you, _Mr Headmaster_?"

For a moment, the figure kept still. However, after a short pause, he snorted derisively, picking up a black fan from the table and opening it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Charles Grey. My name is… Rufus Barma."


	8. Chapter 8

_**(A/Ns: I finally finished! I am so proud of myself, because I put so much effort into planning this and I honestly believe it turned out really good. It was my first actually good lemon and the first time I did something slightly different to my usual depressing addiction/drug stories, as well as my first action stories. So, I know a lot of this chapter is made up, but I just gathered my knowledge of chains and how they work to think of something Rufus would do. In response to my reviewer, thank you so much for telling me the things that bothered. Firstly, with Break getting drunk, whilst he doesn't get intoxicated, in one of the light novels, he does reach some sort of drinking limit, as well as have a hangover, so I was working off that, but thank you for querying it anyway. And with Grell's pronouns, I prefer using female too, but because they're acting as a male in this, it was just more accurate. This chapter is much longer, and we also have guest appearances from Vincent and Claude1**_

 _ **Please review! I know that there several people following this, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could take some time to let me know what you thought of the story overall. Regardless, thank you to every single one of my readers.**_

 _ **NOTE: I have been experiencing problems with recently, so if it is not made clear/the email does not come through saying I updated, this chapter went up on 9/5/17.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji, Pandora Hearts or any of the characters)**_

 **Chapter 8**

"Rufus… Barma?" Ciel repeated to himself, "I apologise, but… I've never heard the name before…"

"Of course you haven't," Rufus retorted, as if it were the most obvious thing ever, "The four Dukedoms – whilst also being classified as aristocracies – are primarily kept away from society, as they work exclusively for Pandora. Of course, you, Ciel Phantomhive; also known as the queen's guard dog, is not likely to have ever come across us before. However, I shall grant ye the exception of not knowing who we are; for Pandora's work, especially the Barma's, is nothing short of flawless. If our work is strictly confidential, then it shall ultimately remain so."

"And how exactly do you know who I am?" Ciel questioned, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the redhead.

"I know everything!" Rufus announced, raising a hand and pointing straight at Alois, "You. I know that whilst you may seem powerful and bold, trying to be nothing short of perfect; _I_ know that you're forever plagued by what _that_ man did to both your mind and your body."

Alois froze for a moment, before a sly smirk twitched at his lips. "Go on then, let your twisted imagination run wild about all the things that old pervert did to me. I don't care."

"Alright then. Would you like me to expose your deepest, darkest secret to everyone here?" Rufus taunted, his gaze shifting to Ciel, "And whilst I'm at it, why don't I expose yours, as well? It's the same mockery, after all. The pathetic death that awaits the two of you; 'twas all for the sake of worthless revenge. Especially you, Ciel. Your dead parents. It is for revenge, correct?"

"Watch your actions carefully," Ciel warned threateningly, "If you know so much about my secret weapon, then I'd be careful if I were you."

"Hmph."

"I still don't believe you know 'everything'," Charles countered, his hand subconsciously gripping the sheath of his sword, "Prove it."

"I shouldn't have to prove anything. But, if you insist, then I can give you a sample – only a small fragment, however – of my vast knowledge, which has been meticulously collected over the past 67 years."

"… Go on."

"Certainly," Rufus accepted, "Oz Vessalius, heir to the Vessalius dukedom, 15 years old with a tendency to accept things 'just as they are'."

"Huh?! Are you supposed to be telling them all of this?!" Oz yelped, flailing his arms around in some sort of protest.

"It is my decision. This will all be over today. All shall be revealed in due time," Rufus declared, clearing his throat before continuing, "Gilbert Nightray, eldest adopted son of the Nightray dukedom, 24 years old with no memories of his past and 9 failed attempts to quit smoking."

"H-hey!" Gilbert yelled defensively, "I thought we agreed to keep that one a secret!"

"Oh please, we could all smell it on you," Alois muttered under his breath, folding his arms over and smiling bitterly at the prefect.

Waiting for the attention to revert back to him, Rufus eventually carried on, "Xerxes Break, servant to the Rainsworth dukedom, age 24 to some extent with an inexplicable past and 116 murders on his record. Elliot Nightray, youngest child to the Nightray dukedom, age 16 and a student of Lutwidge Academy with a strong dislike for the Vessalius'; especially towards Ada, Oz's sister."

At the mere mention of his beloved sister, Oz's attention was piqued, as he whipped around to glare at Elliot accusingly. "Hey! What did my sister ever do to you?!"

"Shut up, shorty," Elliot retaliated coldly.

"Finally, Leo, personal valet to Elliot Nightray, age 16," Rufus continued, shifting slightly, "His surname or origins are still ambiguous, however, but I strongly suspect that he has connections to the Abyss somehow."

"'Abyss…'" Ciel quoted, confused and pretending that he'd never heard the term prior to this, "What is that, if I may ask?"

"Fufu… I see you really do want to know everything…" Rufus commented, bringing his fan up to his face and narrowing his eyes at Ciel, "Alright. I'll explain it to you. But, it may take a while."

"That's fine by me," Ciel smirked, "I have got all night, after all."

"Eager, I see…" Rufus muttered, "The 'Abyss' is another world, you could say. It has the power to change the past or destroy the world, if desired. 100 years ago, the powers of the Abyss were used incorrectly, resulting in what is now referred to as 'The Tragedy of Sablier'."

"That's a bit ironic coming from you, don't you think~?" Break interrupted.

Rufus turned to glare coldly at him. "I am not messing with the powers of the Abyss. I am merely testing them."

"Same thing."

"With the amount of sins you've committed – past and present – I'm surprised you have the nerve to comment on my harmless experiments."

His face dropping, Break shrank back into his chair wordlessly.

"But… but they weren't harmless!" Oz countered, standing up abruptly and slamming his hands down onto the table, "So many people were killed!"

"Obviously, I didn't know that was going to be the result," Rufus defended.

"Ha!" Charles laughed derisively, "So you _don't_ know everything!"

"I know everything which has happened in the past," Rufus proclaimed, "However even I am not a mind reader, nor am I a fortune teller; I cannot predict or account for the future. What happened was not what I anticipated, but it was all for the sole purpose of my research."

"That's irrelevant!" Oz yelled, "People's _lives_ were lost!"

"'Twas for a good cause," Rufus shrugged.

"I believe we have strayed off topic," Ciel declared bitterly, "Sir, you still have not explained what your experiment and so-called research actually entails."

"You really are a nosey little brat aren't you," Rufus insulted, "Fine. I wished to see whether chains summoned from the core of the Abyss would use innocent people as their prey. Obviously, we have witnessed their brutality on many occasions. However, what we have never witnessed whether they would capture their prey so mercilessly."

"And what exactly are chains?" Alois questioned nonchalantly.

"Chains are organisms created within the core of the Abyss, as far as I know. They create contracts with people through their weaknesses; illegal ones, at least. They use people as their prey whenever they can, but a person consumed by guilt and regret will surely fall as victims. This is what I wanted to test."

"And you honestly thought innocent students would be suitable test subjects?" Ciel asked doubtfully.

Rufus snorted, his lips twitching into a sly yet subtle grin. "Innocent, you say? The ones who were killed; all of them, had committed sins in the past, according to my in-depth research. This is why a majority of the fatalities were adults. No matter the severity, their hearts were riddled by guilt and regret, the negative and dark feelings which act as a magnet between them and the chains. Even the ones with no thoughts or brains, they were still instantly attracted to the guilty and reckless. The chains unknowingly passed judgment among them. Dare I call it… justice?"

"You sure have one messed up perception of what justice is."

"Maybe, but this could be the future for us. We could use them."

"You know… you remind me terribly of someone who I once had the misfortune of experiencing the sinister side of," Ciel mentioned, "Although, I still do not know _that_ person's true motives."

For a few seconds, Rufus silenced completely, before changing the topic. "What exactly were your orders from the queen?"

"My orders from Her Majesty were to get to the bottom this, and then dispose of the cause if necessary. I see no reason to hold back my resent for you any longer," Ciel declared, placing a hand on his waist and removing a small hand gun, raising the nozzle and aiming precisely at Rufus, "In Her Majesty's honour, I declare you-"

Before Ciel could even finish his sentence, he pressed down on the trigger, releasing the bullet directly at Rufus' forehead.

However.

For some reason, the bullet was stopped, two fragments of the metal dropping onto the table like swatted flies. Before Ciel could even react to what had happened, Break launched forward at him, the sword already having been drawn from its sheath. Skilfully, he held the blade right up to Ciel's neck, preparing to strike the final blow with a determined grin on his face.

But, just as he reached him, Charles intervened, removing his sword and holding it up to Break's, locking him in position.

"You sure have some nerve going up against me again~" Break mocked, raising his foot and delivering a swift kick to Charles' stomach, knocking him to the floor and stepping back.

Instinctively, Ciel, Alois and Charles all edged back, standing close together defensively.

In a row in front of them, all the opposing team had also formed a barrier, shielding Rufus with their weapons held up. On the far-left side was Leo, a white hand gun held up directly at the others and slightly in front of Elliot, who pointed his own sword – with the Nightray family crest printed on the handle – straight down at them; a harsh scowl spread across his face. Beside him was Oz, a sharp metal scythe clutched tightly between two hands. Break stood to his left, grinning determinedly with his sword held up diagonally. Finally, Gilbert was beside Break, both hands holding up his own gun and aiming precisely at the others.

No one decided to question where any of the weapons (especially the inhumanly large scythe) had come from, however, their gaze focused solely on the new person, who had appeared out of nowhere at the far-right on the end, with long blonde hair and a black gun held at a perfect 90-degree angle. A sweet and seemingly innocent smile was stretched across his lips. Although, something about his aura just seemed suspicious; maybe it was the pair of scissors poking out of his waist pocket, or the mismatched eyes narrowing at the three on the floor.

"As much as I don't _like_ having to protect the Head of the Barma Dukedom, if it is Pandora's orders then I can tolerate it," Break pointed out, a slightly more sinister edge than usual added to his tone as he glared past Gilbert at the blonde, "However, I really do not appreciate having to work with the sewer rat."

"Vince?!" Gilbert jumped, turning in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

"Don't worry about me, _brother,_ I was just called for back-up," Vincent replied, turning back around to look down on the three whom his gun was directed at, "My name is Vincent; Gil's brother, and if you lay a hand on him, then I will kill you. Because, truthfully, I am just positively _dying_ to torture someone."

"Damn sewer rat…" Break murmured under his breath disgustedly.

Vincent's piercing glare was soon redirected at Break, as he retorted, "The person I torture doesn't have to be one of the enemies, you know."

"Hey, Vincent!" Elliot interjected, keeping his sword in the same fixed position, "You can't just kill Pandora's strongest fighter!"

"I am not one for playing by the rules," Vincent mentioned, "You should know that by now, Elliot. Or should I say… brother?"

"This is no time for family bickering," Ciel intervened, standing up and pulling out the gun again, "I believe we need to settle this matter once and for all," he continued, lips tugging into a devious smirk, "However, if you're going to pull out your weapons, then I'll use mine. I do not wish to get my hands dirty."

"Such a pampered little brat," Break remarked, "You're almost as bad as Oz~"

"Hey!" Oz yelled defensively, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"Don't let your attention stray elsewhere," Rufus instructed, "On behalf of Pandora's confidentiality, I order you to kill all of them."

Without questioning the order, Break lurched forward, heading directly towards Charles, who instinctively whipped out his own sword and locked it against the other's within the last second.

"What a shame I didn't get to kill you the first time we had our little game~" Break taunted, swinging the blade up forcefully and knocking the other's sword from his grip.

"Uh oh…" Charles muttered, losing his balance and tumbling backwards onto the ground. As Break edged closer to him; the tip of his blade pointing down straight at his neck, Charles ultimately began to panic, lifting a leg and kicking the other in the stomach. Surprisingly, Break was unable to dodge it, staggering backwards and clutching his stomach. He clenched his teeth, struggling to stand up as he sensed a very smug Charles going to retrieve his sword in the corner of his unreliable vision.

Just before he could continue, however, two bullets shot at him successively. Charles leant out of the way instantly, raising his sword defensively in an attempt to shield himself.

He glanced up, only then noticing Leo just a few metres behind Break, who was still crouched on the floor with Elliot standing protectively beside him.

"Hey!" Elliot yelled aggressively. It took Charles a few moments to acknowledge that he was not talking to him, but Leo instead. "How many times have I told you not to shoot randomly?! You almost shot me! What kind of valet are you?!"

"One with benefits," Leo teased.

"Ah?! What the hell is wrong with-"

"Elliot! Look out!"

Just as he heard Oz's cries from the other side of the garden, Elliot saw a brief flash of silver, before being pushed aside by Break.

"Go and kill… Ciel…" Break instructed, swinging the sword back up and locking Charles' once again, "Now!"

"Already on it," Vincent intervened, the same misleading smile donning his lips as he cocked the gun, aiming the nozzle at Ciel.

At the same time, Gilbert had managed to corner Alois.

"I'm glad to be the one to finally kill you," Gilbert murmured. He didn't particularly like killing people – even if they were infectiously irritating. However, if Oz was prepared to follow the orders and fight, then… he didn't have a choice.

"Gil!" Oz yelled, snapping the raven from his thoughts. Gil looked up for a moment, spotting Oz ahead of him. His hand held the back of Alois' collar, the other blonde squirming around in his grip and shouting pleas which no one bothered to listen to. The scythe was still clutched in his other hand, but was being held well away from Alois, and Gil could already tell that having to use the B-Rabbit's powers was taking its toll quickly.

Alois bit his lip, shooting a desperate sidelong glance to Ciel, hoping to grab the attention of the other, who was currently being cornered by Vincent with a gun to his head and scissors to his throat. Eventually, he did, receiving an affirmative nod from Ciel before raising his voice promptly, along with the other.

"Sebastian-"

"Claude-"

"- I order you, come!"

Within an instant, two figures appeared.

The first one was none other than the warden of the Sapphire Owl house, Mr Michaelis, who had now officially been revealed as Sebastian. With the same devilish smirk on his face as usual, he swooped in front Ciel, picking up his master bridal style before retreating a few steps.

An expression of anger spread across his face, Vincent fired two more shots at both Sebastian and Ciel. However, each bullet was captured dutifully by Sebastian, the black haired elder holding up the metallic cylinders and stating simply, "I believe these are yours."

Vincent didn't reply, only sneered bitterly, before grabbing his brother's arm and pulling him away once he'd caught a glimpse of the other person, who had thrown Oz to the ground in favour of protecting Alois.

Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, he scanned this new person up and down; from his plum black hair combed over to his flawless tail coat and slim rimmed glasses, Vincent had already decided that he hated him.

"Who the hell are you?" Vincent interrogated.

"My name is Claude Faustus," he replied, in the same manner as Sebastian spoke to them, "I am-"

"OHHH BASSSSYYY~~~ WHERE ARE YOUUU~~?"

Abruptly, three figures leapt down into the garden with them – none other than Grell, Ronald and Undertaker.

Pulling out a chainsaw, Grell smirked, skipping over to Sebastian and flipping his long red hair arrogantly. "Ohh, how I missed you _so_ much, my dear Bassy! Where did you go without me?" he whined, leaning against Sebastian's shoulder and swinging the chainsaw recklessly in his other hand, "Didn't you know it is wrong to leave a lady waiting~?"

"Get off me," Sebastian ordered irritably, furrowing his eyebrows in annoyance.

"Grell, darlin'…" Ronald interjected, subtly placing a hand on the redhead's shoulder and weening them away, "Let's jus'… not."

"Such a buzzkill…" Grell pouted, "The moon is shining, can you not feel the love blooming here~? It is the _perfect_ scene for romance, oh yes! I can practically _feel_ it flowing through my veins, mhm~!"

"So you're in on this as well, I presume?" Rufus sneered at the reapers, bringing the fan up to conceal the lower half of his face again, "This has proved to be rather problematic, considering my men are no match against _you_."

"Oh please, I am nothing special," Sebastian remarked modestly, "I am simply one hell of a butler."

"I see no reason to hesitate for any longer. I now possess all the knowledge I need," Rufus commented, pulling out a small chain from his pocket, with a single emerald pendant attached to the end of it, "To put it simply, this here is a key to the Abyss I created. Does thou wish to know how I accomplished this, or shall I just get on with erasing you?"

"What?!" Oz and Elliot yelped simultaneously, lowering their weapons.

"Why would you kill your own men?" Charles continued, "That's pretty poor leadership in my opinion."

"Silence," Rufus ordered, "Pandora shall never know, and that boy's soul will be preserved regardless. I do not need the rest of you."

Leo shifted uncomfortably under Rufus' gaze, only half familiar with what he was referring to.

"You know, sometimes you piss me off more than the sewer rat…" Break muttered irritably, raising his sword once again, "I can't allow you to kill them."

"What can thou do about it?"

"This."

Suddenly, Break launched at the duke, preparing to strike the blade straight at his neck. But, it wasn't soon enough, as Rufus hastily smashed the emerald, opening the temporary gate to the Abyss.

"Break!"

The ground shook hazardously as a long, ragged crack formed in the ground. Beneath it appeared to be darkness, several cards and low-ability chains erupting from the other dimension.

Partially unaware of what was going on, Break stumbled backwards, trying desperately to sense where the chains were coming from. Eventually, he was able to figure it out.

But, not before one was only a few centimetres in front of him.

Right as the shadow began closing in on him, a figure hastily jumped in front of him, with a large scythe in their right hand.

 _Is that… Oz?_ Break asked himself, _no… it's not… the hair is too long… Undertaker?_

A smirk spread across his lips, the reaper cut down the chain with one strike, the creature dropping dead and evaporating in a flash; ash and blood dissipating into the air above them.

Undertaker grinned slyly, cupping his hand around Break's wrist and pulling him into a standing position. Eyes still dazed, Break glanced up hazily, the reaper's phosphorescent pupils boring into him like daggers.

As Undertaker raised a hand to his face, trailing his finger over his crimson eye, Break gritted his teeth, catching glimpse of the chain approaching Undertaker from behind and slicing straight across its neck, watching as it dropped dead. Just as he turned, Undertaker placed a hand on the side of his hip, forcing his gaze back onto him and hoisting him up slightly.

"I'll be your eyes," the silver-haired reaper whispered in his ear subtly, locating the other's lips. Break's eyes widened when Undertaker slammed his lips onto his, thrusting his tongue inside his mouth instantly. Accepting it; melting into the embrace and his parting his lips to allow easy access, Break's eyes finally drifted shut, the free hand snaking up to the back of Undertaker's neck. The two continued as they were, completely oblivious to the war surrounding them; droplets of blood pouring down on them.

Meanwhile, the rest of them were desperately trying to fight off the chains, mindlessly cutting off their heads and slitting their necks, hoping it would take them down once and for all.

"Oz!" Gilbert cried, spinning around rapidly and positioning the gun, shooting a round of bullets at the chain's forehead and destroying it.

"Thank you, Gil," Oz smiled, standing up and brushing the dirt of himself, "Ah, hey! Behind you!"

The second Gilbert responded, the card had already dropped dead, disappearing into nowhere like steam.

"Oh, Vince…" Gil exhaled, his brother locking his gun on another chain. The raven paused for a moment to catch his breath, reloading his gun and scanning the area. "Is that all of them?"

"For now, but…" Vincent eyed the crack, observing no signs that the opening to the Abyss was closing. "Duke Barma seems determined to end us."

"Haah… this turned out so bad!" Oz whined, dropping his shoulders, "I can't keep using the B-Rabbit's powers… if Alice were here, it would be easier, but…"

"It's going to be okay," Gilbert reassured, placing a hand softly onto the younger blonde's shoulder, "We'll get out of this like we usually do."

Vincent shot Oz a bitter glare, glad that he couldn't see his resentment. However, he was soon snapped out of it, spotting several more chains crawling out of the crack.

"Bassy! What are they?!" Grell yelled dramatically, swinging his chainsaw around and wiping 2 of them out, "Why are they killing me?! I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Apart from torturing and killing every victim of the Jack the Ripper case…" Ciel muttered under his breath, leaning against the fence beside a very terrified and speechless Alois; cowering against the fence.

"You know, it's easier for you to say that when you have that _handsome_ butler protecting you~" Grell retorted. However, the comeback came across as more of a compliment to Sebastian rather than an insult to Ciel.

Ciel shrugged, keeping one hand on the gun in his pocket. Both Sebastian and Claude seemed to be handling things fairly well (with the occasionally distasteful glare at each other), Ciel still wasn't completely sure, especially with the endless outbursts of these mysterious 'chain' creatures.

Across the garden, both Elliot and Leo were struggling to ward the chains off which went straight for them.

Or, more specifically, went for Elliot.

"Why are they only attacking me?!" Elliot yelled, randomly throwing his sword in all different directions and attempting to inflict some damage.

"You want me to get hurt?" Leo teased.

"Now is not the time to be mocking me!"

"I'm sorry, Elliot," Leo apologised sarcastically, "Would you like to punish me later?"

"Yes!" Elliot answered, his eyes snapping open wide once the innuendo clicked in his mind, "Wait… wha-"

"ELLIOT!"

Hearing Leo's distressed cry put him straight on edge, the Nightray's eyes trailing up to the chain directly above him. His hands flew to the top of his head automatically, shielding and bracing himself for the oncoming attack.

However, just before the chain could reach him, there was a blur of black and a tiny bit of orange streaking past them, the _slash_ of a knife echoing. Shortly after, the chain collapsed onto the ground. Elliot and Leo both worked up the courage to look up at that point, immediately spotting Ronald, a knife in his left hand as he cut down several chains at once. He practically flew through the air, effortlessly eradicating the oncoming chains one by one.

Once he was complete, Ronald dropped down onto the ground skilfully, bending his knees before returning to the lawnmower he'd left unattended a short while ago.

Panting, Elliot asked, "Why… huh?"

"Despite you tryin' to kill us," Ronald answered, pushing his glasses up and leaning casually on the lawnmower, "I couldn't help but want to help the young'uns out."

"You had a… weird machine, though," Elliot pointed out confusedly.

"Ah, but using the ol' death psyche get borin' sometimes, y' know."

"D-death psyche…?" Elliot repeated slowly.

"They're what Grim Reapers carry as weapons," Leo explained quietly, swiping the dirt off Elliot's blazer, "And, you know…"

"Ah, so y' know my secret then?"

Leo and Elliot nodded simultaneously.

"Looks like Undertaker's method worked then…" Ronald muttered to himself.

"Method?" Elliot cocked an eyebrow.

Ronald chuckled, "Oh, I think y're a bit too young for tha' kind of thing. Well, actually, you two… maybe not, eh?"

"Right…" Elliot murmured, "I still don't understand why you saved us though. What exactly are you planning to do, lure us into a false sense of security and then kill us?"

"Eh? No," Ronald shot him a quizzical look. "I know y're the enemies, but… I think I 'ave grown to like you two a bit. Besides, if I kill y' before y're time's up, Will's almost gonna _certainly_ chew me out."

After another couple of minutes of pure chaos, the group were beginning to grow tired. It just didn't seem to be ending, and the fact that Rufus only seemed interested in using his chain to protect himself didn't help the situation either.

"Gil…" Oz panted, staggering forward, "We can't do this!"

"I…" Gilbert stuttered. He wanted to tell Oz that it would okay; like any good valet would, however he just couldn't bring himself to lie to his master like that. "I… I think there's only one solution now…"

Oz nodded, searching the area for Break and soon locating him. He was being held securely by Undertaker, his sword discarded and left impaled in what was left of a chain's body.

Charles caught on quickly, taking the hint from Gil and Oz's expectant gazes and raising his voice boldly, "Hey! You two! Get your tongue out each other's throats and do something!"

"I think you'll find we've killed more of these things than you have~" Undertaker remarked, a strong hint of discontent embedded in his tone.

"Break!" Oz cried, "I'm sorry, but… you're… you're our last hope!"

Break lowered his head, pulling away from Undertaker. He didn't have a choice; he was well aware of that.

"But… Reim…" Break murmured, "I told him I wouldn't die because of this!"

"Please!"

"Don't worry," Undertaker whispered discreetly, "It's not your time yet."

Break remained hesitant for a few more moments, before separating from Undertaker. A few more chains approached him instantaneously, as he whipped out his sword and cut them all down swiftly.

"Hurry, Break!" Gilbert pleaded.

Reluctantly, the blade still held out and prepared, Break lifted his head, summoning the chain. A few seconds later, Mad Hatter appeared above him, spreading its wings. With a deep breath, Break manipulated it, opening the centre and releasing the rays. Rapidly, all of the chains began disappearing under the harsh beams of light, the rest of the people having to shield themselves from the immense power being radiated.

Rufus narrowed his eyes annoyedly, the gate to the Abyss slowly sealing under the Hatter's powers.

Barely a few seconds later, all of the chains had been completely cleared, a deafening silence lingering over the garden like a dark cloud.

"What the hell… even was that?" Charles asked, undeniably astonished, "They're all just… gone?"

Break smiled regretfully, his stomach churning and head swimming.

"Break!" Oz shouted, hurrying over to him, "Stay with us! It's over now… we can go!"

His vision grew hazier, blood forcing its way up his throat and causing him into an unforgiving coughing fit, the red substance splattering onto the floor and staining his clothes. His knees grew unsteady, as he dropped to the floor. Quickly, his vision darkened completely, the world around him fading.

And then, everything went black.

Break's body hit the floor with an audible _thump,_ his body lying lifelessly in the dirt.

Wordlessly, Elliot and Leo nodded at each other, taking Break by his arms and legs. Gilbert took the hint, leaning down onto one knee and accepting as the couple placed Break onto his back. Involuntarily, he let out a sigh of relief, Break's pulse flowing though his neck and beating subtly against his ear. It was weak, but still thankfully noticeable.

"So, er…" Oz scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I think… we should leave now…"

"I agree," Ciel responded, "Sebastian."

"Yes, my lord?"

"I declare this case as over."

"Are you sure about that?" Sebastian asked, "You would not like me to kill Duke Barma?"

"There's no need," Ciel replied firmly, "He's already gone."

"Oh yeh!" Charles acknowledged, realising that the duke was nowhere to be seen, "I couldn't wait to kill him!"

"Coward…" Alois added under his breath, "Claude, I want to go now."

"Yes, your highness," Claude accepted courteously, "We shall be leaving shortly."

"Am I safe to assume that you will be seeing the Duke again at some point?" Ciel questioned.

"We work at the same company as him," Gilbert sighed, "He… no one ever knows what he's thinking."

"According to him, 'knowledge is power'," Oz quoted uneasily, "I suppose if he has all the information he wanted, then he has no reason to stay. But, it's still out of character for him to just run off like that."

"Hmph, how arrogant," Ciel commented, "I… wish you luck for your future endeavours, for I do not particularly desire to see you again. Nevertheless, farewell," he paused for a moment, "Come, Sebastian."

"Yes, young master."

Oz, Gilbert, Vincent, Oz, Elliot and Leo all watched as the other's figures wandered off, their silhouettes dissipating into the distance. For a brief moment, the 3 reapers stopped, turning back once more before continuing on, following the rest.

Without uttering a single word, the group began walking in the opposite direction, trudging across the mud and blood. The moon shone brightly, stars scattered across the sky and glistening against the night, just as they were when the Midnight Tea Party had just started.

Just as they arrived at the carriages awaiting them at the front of the school from Pandora, Oz broke the silence.

"Hey, Gil…" he muttered.

"What is it, Oz?" Gilbert responded, glancing down to the blonde questioningly.

"Did you notice how Sebastian addressed Ciel as 'young master'?" Oz recalled, grinning to himself as a sense of nostalgia consumed him.

A subtle smile tugged at Gilbert's lips, Hee climbed into the carriage, opting to sit closely beside Oz. "Yeh… I did. I guess… that wasn't so bad after all…"

 _Fin._


End file.
